Armored Core: Scattered Ashes
by MrMasher
Summary: Sequel to Armored Core: Burning Path. The world changed for many in 2112. For one person in particular, her entire reason for being slipped away forever. The fires of old have faded, but from their ashes a new violence seeks to take revenge for everything lost. Many will learn the price of living in the past and lives will be lost on all sides. The end is nigh. Please R&R!
1. Broken Promises

A/N: Well here we go. For the time being this is just a teaser for what is coming. As of 20/01/2017, Armored Core: Scattered Ashes is now in production. I can't promise regular updates but I will do my best to post chapters as and when they are complete. So for now, enjoy this prologue and I look forward to reading any feedback you might have!

"I'll save you. I promise I will find you.

No matter what you hear me?

If it's the last thing I do, if I have to give up everything, I'll bring you back.

I swear I'll burn the world to ash if it means I can even hope to save you, you hear me Berlioz?!

I will be there for you!"

 _Alicia Lamond, 2106_

I never wanted to believe in failure.

It just wasn't something I had allowed myself to consider, even during the lowest moments of my life, when all hope seemed impossible to reach. I knew had to keep moving towards my goal.

Everything else had been left behind the moment my life was ripped apart before my very eyes. The place I'd called home as long as I could remember. The family that had cared for me, raised me as one of their own. The girl who'd loved me for years.

When weighed against what I needed to do, it was incomparable.

That very night, I took the first of many lives I would end. The first stain, the first fleck of red on hands that would run crimson. The long arduous process of leaving my humanity behind started then.

In my uncontrollable need to complete my task, I killed and killed and killed, over and over again. Corpses formed the path ahead of me as I waded knee deep through their blood and filth.

I committed myself to the unthinkable and the unforgivable, all for the sake of saving one man. A man I slowly learned had carved the very same path I walked.

In a crowd of what felt like strangers in that moment, staring at a small flickering screen of a grainy video feed, I felt failure drive it's cold blade into my chest.

On the screen, I watched that man, my brother, die.

As if in slow motion, the broken, mangled frame of his AC was thrown off the edge of the Ark by a man who proudly announced himself as Maximilian Thermidor.

In those few seconds, my world ended.

#####

If I'm honest, I don't really remember what happened after that. The doctor's say I broke someone's arm as they tried to restrain me before they were forced to put me into an induced coma. Something about an abnormally violent development of psychosis.

Days passed, weeks passed.

I spent about a month drifting between a blurred and out of focus reality, and the hyper sharp world in my head, locked in that moment.

Repeating his death over and over. Trapped in something that went beyond a living nightmare.

When they finally brought me back, I had already come to terms with it, because I still had a goal. With my brother's passing, it was an easier enough adaption to keep the momentum of my will going.

I exchanged salvation for annihilation.

Instead of striving to save my brother, I would bring ruin to those that took our lives away from us.

I took a small joy in learning that during my coma, Maximilian Thermidor died days after killing my brother at the hands of a Raven. Rayleonard, the Corporation I had previously worked for had been liquidated and broken up, fragments of history sold to the highest bidder.

As it turned out, the majority of Rayleonard's standing military force, including the special forces division I was part of, was bought by Omer Science Technology. They integrated the standard forces into their own and we were reformed into a Tactical Assault Team, performing virtually the same jobs we did before.

Obviously Omer spent an exhaustive amount of time with psych checks and evaluations, ensuring that I wasn't going to become unhinged at the next sign of stress. I understood their worry, but it wasn't necessary.

All I need to push forwards was an anchor, something to hold me steady in the storm that I existed in.

Berlioz had been it before, now, it was revenge.

So long as I had that, I could keep breathing. Keep moving forwards.

As it turned out, they were more than happy with the results I produced. It wasn't to impress them, although getting in their good graces would make my job easier. Raising my status would mean access to more classified information, opportunities to meet VIPs and influencers.

I had all the time in the world. I could build my list of targets, both people and facilities, ready for the time when I could strike.

Barely months later, they made my task even easier.

Under the pretense of unifying the Corporations to prevent another war, Global Armaments Europe, Omer Science Technology, Rosenthal, Leonemeccanica, The Bernard and Felix Foundation, Aspina and Technocrat all signed into a new organisation called The League of Corporations.

The League would in theory remove any need for the Corporations to ever take military action against one another, for fear of being exiled from the group.

Of course, the League itself was a sham, but that was of no concern to me.

I was more interested in the new development to come out of this arrangement.

In the war leading up to the formation of the League, the Corporations destroyed the organisation that my brother belonged to. Mercenaries called Ravens, who were the sole pilots of the war machines called Armored Cores.

Pushed to the point of extinction, the few surviving Ravens were reformed into those now called Lynx and used to train new pilots for the League. Armored Cores evolved along with them, with the latest models rolling off the assembly line now called NEXTs, equipped with new advanced weaponry and defensive systems.

These Lynx and NEXTs would be the key to my victory. With that power, I could finally take my revenge.

I, Alicia Lamond, will take the lives of everyone who took my brother from me and tried to end mine.


	2. Act 1: Ch 1: First Breath After Coma

Act 1

The Destruction of Small Ideas

League Base Near Former Indianapolis, Collard Hangar

14:20

14/02/2113

There was something almost calming about the smell inside a hangar. The familiarity of oil, unburnt propellant and recently welded metal. Many of these scents would bleed into the cockpit no matter how new the sealant on the entry hatch was.

A woman in a black armoured jumpsuit stood by a bay that held NEXTs like the one she was due to use as part of her final Lynx assessment.

The name tag stitched onto the left breast of the kevlar reinforced plate said Alice Hutchinson, but that was in fact a pseudonym. A false identity she had maintained for almost 7 years at this point. If anyone learned her true identity and her relation to certain individuals, it would draw far too much attention to her.

That attention would make it difficult to carry out the mission she had given herself.

Her real name was Alicia Lamond, the sister of the recently deceased Ninebreaker of the Ravens, Berlioz Lamond.

From everything she'd seen and heard during her time as part of the League of Corporations, it seemed that they'd gone to great lengths to suppress knowledge of his existence, fearing that his actions during the fall of the Raven's Ark could inspire others to defect to a certain faction that currently opposed them.

That faction was Line Ark.

Supposedly formed by a former Raven who escaped the destruction of their home, they went public a few months after the formation of the League, declaring their intention to destroy all who supported the current regime.

They adopted the title of Raven to keep it alive, preventing the League from driving history out of the minds of the general public.

The League did everything in their power to synonymize the title Raven with outlaw or criminal, branding Line Ark as a collective of terrorists seeking only to destabilise the peace the League brought.

Due to the fact that so few Ravens survived the short but brutal war in the previous year, they used their limited numbers as makeshift instructors, making them train up vast numbers of new recruits to fill out their ranks.

These new pilots and their trainers were now referred to as Lynx, elites of the League piloting the latest generation Armored Cores called NEXTs.

Former Ravens became known as Originals, each one of them hardened veterans who could take on entire Line Ark companies alone and return alive. However, the League's overenthusiastic deployment of their Originals led to their numbers diminishing until as of recently only two remained.

However one of those two Originals recently defected to Line Ark, meaning that the League now only had a single Original. While they might have more pilots overall, the fact that Line Ark now had more Originals than them was a fact the League wanted to keep under wraps.

Alicia didn't particularly care for the conflict between the two factions.

If anything, their constant skirmishing would keep the League occupied and their attention away from any suspects inside their own ranks.

While she had briefly considered siding with Line Ark, she decided against it as they eventually became too high profile.

But Alicia was used to playing the long game. She'd spent nearly seven years working her way into Rayleonard, what was another couple on top to get into the League's core.

When the moment was right, she would decapitate the entire organisation with the power they so dearly coveted.-3

It was at that very moment that her concentration was brought back to the world around her, when the large armoured double doors leading into the Hangar rumbled to life, splitting apart down the middle to allow three people to enter.

The man in the centre was the target of her focus, as she recognised the two flanking him as regular agents of the League. Middle men for it's internal affairs if you could think of it like that.

With a long, slightly unkempt beard and black turban, the central man stood out more than most. The standard issue armoured jumpsuit he wore was the same as hers, meaning he was a Lynx and likely her supervisor for the final part of her training.

Alicia fixed him with a cold stare, trying to size him up as he approached. One of the suits to his side got his attention and whispered something to him.

There was a flash of annoyance across the Lynx's face but it quickly returned to the apathetic expression he had walking in and nodded.

At that, he walked over, apparently unfazed by her glare and stretched out a hand. His face didn't change whatsoever as he spoke, dark green eyes matching her stare.

"I'm your supervisor for this portion of your training. My name is Sajjan Singh."

She hesitated a moment, waiting for any sign of falter in his demeanour, but when none came, she took his hand and firmly shook it, unable to help giving him a wry grin. It was a twisted form of admiration that he was apparently so dedicated to this whole 'detached and emotionless' deal.

"Alice Hutchinson, looking forward to it." She said before letting go of his hand.

He nodded and began walking away, Alicia following. She called out to him, "You know, Sir-"

"It's just Sajjan, I don't care about any of that shit."

Somewhat taken aback at his now apparently genuine gruffness, she corrected herself and continued, "Sorry, _Sajjan,_ but as much as neither of us want to be here, you're playing the 'aloof senior' card pretty hard."

Without breaking stride he answered, "It's not a card I'm playing. I had a bad morning and now, without being rude, I have to deal with you."

She raised an eyebrow at that, "A bad morning?" Did spilling the milk at breakfast really count as good reason to be an asshole this late in the day? Her opinion of this man was dropping like a rock.

He stopped walking, surprising Alicia as she came to a halt behind him.

"I was told that I have terminal lung cancer and will die without treatment in the next two years. I'm sorry if you were expecting someone with a spring in their step."

Leaving her on that, he resumed walking.

It took Alicia a few seconds to restart her thought process before lurching forwards to catch up. It seemed rude to say nothing at such a frank and personal answer.

"I'm… I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. Everyone is dying, I'm just dying faster."

Despite the guilt at her earlier preconception, Alicia had nothing to say to that, so she allowed silence to settle. It wasn't a case of awkwardness or anything similar, she had simply learned when to keep your mouth shut. The military beat that into you quickly.

Moments later, they stopped alongside a Hangar bay holding an unfamiliar NEXT frame.

It was pure white with black accents on various detailings. The armour around the arms and legs looked like it could lock together at certain angles and the large protrusions behind the shoulders were downright confusing. It looked nothing like any of the NEXTs she'd seen so far.

Perhaps it was a test model?

Alicia decided to try and raise the mood a little by changing the topic that was likely on both of their minds.

"Is this a test model? I don't think I've seen a NEXT with this frame before."

Sajjan gazed up at it for a moment before answering without looking at her.

"That's because you won't, it's entirely custom designed. It's not a NEXT either, it's an Armored Core that's been retrofitted with NEXT technology so it can fight on the same level as them."

That was a genuine surprise to Alicia. From what she had learnt during her training virtually all Lynx, aside from special exceptions like Gerald Gendlin, had quickly phased out their ACs for NEXTs at the earliest opportunity.

"Custom or not, why hang onto a relic?" She asked, "Seems like a lot of work that could be avoided?"

Sajjan gave a slight sigh, his gaze dropping a little, "Because it's my relic. I've spent so long in this AC's cockpit I can't see myself dying in anything else."

Sajjan turned to face Alicia as the realisation of who her instructor today was, speaking before she had a chance to.

"Yes, I am the League's last Original. I've been piloting ACs for over eight years now and I can't see that ending voluntarily any time soon. White Glint will be my grave and at this point I think I can live with that."

He said this with such clarity and fluidity it was almost like he'd rehearsed such a speech. But at the same time he hadn't done anything to make Alicia believe he was the type to put on a show, so to speak.

Before Alicia actually had time to formulate a response to his statement, he pointed across the Hangar to another bay where a plain grey/pale blue Rosenthal TYPE-LANCEL NEXT stood.

"You'll be heading out in that. For this test you have some flexibility over armaments so you'll choose your loadout from a limited selection once you're inside. Is there anything else you need to know before the briefing?"

She paused in thought, running over any details that wouldn't come up in the debriefing.

"No, I'm good." She said after a few seconds.

Sajjan nodded at her before turning away and walking towards the small elevator platform built into the gantry that held White Glint, "Alright then, head on over and open a com channel when you're done with the loadout."

She would have nodded, but the action would be pointless considering his turned back.

Alicia didn't know what to make of Sajjan at this point. His brief interaction with her so far seemed to waver between abrasive and understanding. Something wasn't quite there about him, like he was hiding something or trying his best to put on a front.

A strange dissonance struggling to balance itself in him.

For the time being at least, there was nothing she could do about it but push it to the back of her mind, more important things required her attention.

She made a beeline for her NEXT, stepping onto a platform identical to the one Sajjan had used and push the small button on its control panel, causing it to lurch upwards.

Within moments it was at the highest point of the gantry, a walkway that lined up with the NEXT's head. The head itself was lifted away from the core in the fashion typical for entry into weapon systems of this type like MTs or ACs.

However rather than climbing into the cockpit as usual, she stopped part way at a touch screen panel mounted to the gantry that was used for alterations on NEXTs prior to deployment, like loadout changes, ammunition type or tuning of the frame.

The screen was currently set to display the armaments of her NEXT, which right now was a rather obvious N/A.

Flicking her finger across the screen, she realised that the League was deliberately limiting her options on choices for the various hardpoints of the NEXT. She didn't know what the objective of her test would be, so keeping flexibility in mind would be preferable over trying to laser in on a specific build type. Countering the unknown meant not blindly guessing at your opponent's strengths and weaknesses.

With that in mind, she chose the bread and butter of all weapons for her right arm slot, a Rosenthal assault rifle. In her left, she contemplated a laser blade, but remembered her own difficulties with utilising them properly and chose a high calibre GAE handgun as a suitable close-quarters alternative.

The selection for back mounted weapons was, in her opinion, ludicrously small. Given only a Leonemeccanica radar, a basic MSAC missile launcher, an older generation BFF sniper cannon or surprisingly, an external magazine rack for whatever right hand weapon was chosen.

While to some, the prospect of additional ammo for their primary weapon was hard to pass up, it was never going to be an option on any NEXT she set foot in. She hadn't seen it personally, but one trainee Lynx took a NEXT out with an external magazine rack and lost the entire right arm 30 seconds into combat when it detonated.

In the end, she settled on the radar and missile launcher. Sticking to the basics made sense because they were established classics. People loved them for a reason.

The deep rumble of machinery rang out around her as the bay came to life. After a moment, the NEXT slid back away from the gantry where several revolving racks of weapons emerged, robotic arms picking her choices and mounting them to the frame.

The entire process only took around 20 seconds, the NEXT moving back to it's original position as if nothing had happened aside from several large weapons appearing in its hands and on its back.

Once Alicia was sure it was secure, she walked away from the panel and off the gantry's walkway, now standing on the TYPE-LANCEL's core beside the head.

Before lowering herself into the cockpit, Alicia looked over at White Glint opposite her. Sajjan was nowhere to be seen and the AC's head was lowered, optics glowing a deep blue.

It seemed a shame to stain such a pure white machine with the filth of war.

Settling into the seat of the TYPE-LANCEL, Alicia quickly familiarised herself with the control layout. While it was standardised to a degree, some NEXT frames had various control systems in alternate locations.

She located the Auxiliary Power Unit control panel on her right, flicking three switches to engage it. It's quiet hum behind her was enough indication that it had spooled up correctly, providing power to the non-essential systems like communications and lighting.

The moment she was sure that the preliminary checks were complete, Alicia fired up the main generator while powering down the APU. It's brief roar to life was replaced by a subtle whine after it began to receive power from the gantry, the main monitors now displaying the view from the NEXT's optics as well as various readouts.

With the NEXT now comfortably running in normal-mode, she opened up the com channel with White Glint in front of her.

"Set up complete, ready for briefing, Sajjan."

"Good, thanks for not keeping me waiting." Alicia didn't know if that was genuine or not but allowed him to continue. "As this is the final part of your training, the League needs to ascertain that you are capable of performing the primary task required of you as a Lynx. Do I need to ask if you know what that task is?"

She cracked a wry grin at that, realising that perhaps in the past there had been those too naive to realise what exactly they were going to be ordered to do. She stated their purpose without hesitation.

"We kill Ravens."

There was a short pause before Sajjan replied.

"That's right. Today you get the honour of taking this man down."

On a side monitor, a file was received over the short range network between the two NEXTs, opening immediately. In it, were pictures of a man called Derek Hoezenberg. He had short spiky black hair and a long scar down the side of his face. His nose looked like it had been broken twice without correct resetting. If anyone met the definition of 'criminal', it was this guy.

As much as Alicia appreciated at least getting to know the person she was ordered to kill, this information wouldn't be particularly useful during combat.

"Do we have any information on this Raven's AC?"

"No. He's been known to use several variations with little pattern between them. Trying to predict his next loadout is virtually impossible. Expect the unknown and adapt on site."

 _Expect the unknown he says, don't we do that every day?_

Alicia pushed the snide thought aside.

"Understood."

Another file came through, this time with geographical information of a region only a couple of hours from their position.

"We have confirmed reports that this Derek Hoezenberg is moving via a modified cargo truck along this route." A red line ran along a faint path on the map indicating the truck's journey. "The plan is to ambush him here." What looked like a population centre bisected by the truck's path was then ringed by red.

"Seems a little cheap to pass this test with an ambush?" Alicia wasn't actually concerned about the ethics of battle, she was more curious as to Sajjan's reply.

"If you want a straight fight in a barren plain then be my guest, but Ravens train every day to kill us just like we do to kill them. If you think having a NEXT means you don't have to worry you've got another thing coming. Raven's will use every trick they can to seize the upper hand and the moment they have the chance to kill you they'll take it."

Alicia didn't really have anything to say back to that, she just kept looking over the information in front of her. Using her finger, she drew a small cross at an intersection, "I say we mount it here, give them enough time to get deep enough into the urban area that a quick withdrawal isn't possible. Then we hit the truck before the AC has a chance to deploy."

"That's a rather rapid 180, what happened to ambushes being cheap?" She didn't answer as explaining was more effort than she could be bothered to expend at this point. Sajjan continued regardless, "I agree with your plan though, we'll go ahead with that then. Was there anything else you needed to ask before we head out?"

"No, we can move now."

At that, the gantries around their NEXTs fell away, the power and data cables decoupling from their mounts.

Striding forwards, Alicia and Sajjan made their way to the runway outside the hangar where their transporter awaited them.


	3. Act 1: Ch 2: Truth of a Liar

Queenslance, Personal Quarters

09:30

14/02/2113

For most, the ringing of an alarm clock is something to be dreaded. The signal that a new day performing a duty must begin whether it be education or employment. However for one young girl in particular, today was something she'd be working herself up to doing for what felt like months.

Lilium Wolcott excitedly fumbled the replica bedside clock, clicking the large button on top of it to silence its incessant beeping. Seconds later, the duvet she had been under was flying off the bed along with her own body as she threw herself onto her feet.

Catching herself in the mirror opposite her, she struck a triumphant pose, declaring to no one in particular, "Today's the day! I'm gonna do this!"

Without an ounce of embarrassment at her display, she almost bounced over to her drawer, somehow managing to remove herself from her pajamas in the not even metres she travelled.

The moment underwear had been acquired, it was a race to the integrated wardrobe. Trying to put on the simultaneously rigid and flexible pilot's jumpsuits that she regularly had to wear was usually a task that took far longer than it really should. Sure, it would drastically improve her life expectancy in the event that something came close to harming her, but it wasn't exactly fun to look at. Couldn't they have made it cute?

Cute jumpsuits were now next on her agenda after dealing with current issues.

Taking liberal advantage of the training that kept her limber, she reached over her shoulder and pulled the heavy zipper up to the back of the jumpsuit's collar, covering it with the padded section to maintain a unified protective layer.

At least that's what had been drilled into her since she could remember.

The process of becoming a Lynx wasn't fun in the slightest. It was all work and no play. But "Mother's word is law" apparently. Lilium hadn't been sold on the idea of becoming a Lynx a couple of years ago, but was swayed by the decision to join up after hearing how much it would help Mother and the world in general out.

She didn't want to admit it, but being useful and helping people made her feel good and important. If she had to cram herself into stuffy jumpsuits to do that then so be it.

Thinking on stuffy jumpsuits, Lilium was now somewhat painfully aware of the tightness around the chest area. She hadn't expected this so soon and the growth had snuck up on her.

Lynx jumpsuits were made to spec, so at this rate, several visits by the Collard Tailor were likely due in the near future. While it was a hassle, it was also evidence of progress which left her unable to stop grinning at herself in the mirror.

The train of thought that her mind was currently riding tripped the realisation that she hadn't taken her medication this morning. She could spend all day admiring the work of modern medicine on her, but it wouldn't last long if she didn't keep it up. The doctors had been insistent that she take it every day and upsetting doctors helped no one.

They had given her instructions to take 150mg of something called "Corporis Argentum" which sounded cool but how it worked was far too complicated. All she understood was that it had come to replace the variety of medications needed previously like Spironolactone and Estradiol.

Taking two of the small shiny white pills out of the pot, Lilium placed them in her mouth and drained the entire glass of water beside her bed.

After making sure her pillows and sheets were in order and brushing her teeth, she left her room, walking out into the ornate and warmly lit interior corridor. Soft lighting made the red and gold trim carpeting almost glow, as if you could lay on the floor and sleep there instead of an actual bed.

While the journey ahead of her would take longer than she'd like, Lilium knew the perfect way to make it enjoyable.

Turning a sharp right, she came up to a bulkhead that slowly unlocked and opened with a smooth motion, revealing what she had been looking forward to no matter how many times she saw it.

Saltwater spray in the air rushed over her, the sound waves gently crashing mixed with the distant sound of seagulls. It was almost the same every time she came here, but it never stopped being wonderful. It was one of the things she was most grateful for, being able to live on a home that endlessly travelled the sea.

That place Lilium called home was the Queenslance Corporate Command Ship. A colossal vessel that doubled as the Corporation Headquarters for the Bernard and Felix Foundation. At 520m from stern to aft, 146,300 tonnes in displacement weight under deep load, the Queenslance was the largest and heaviest combat capable ship ever built.

She was told that it was built using the same thought process that led to Leonemeccanica's commissioning of the Venture Aircarrier. Unlike Rayleonard, Rosenthal or GA America, who foolishly had chosen to have static, commercially focused Headquarters, both BFF and Leonemeccanica had seen the value in a command structure centered around the principle of using military strength and organisation integrated into a traditional company administrative system.

The Queenslance on par with the Venture in terms of operational capability as well as being able to hold its own in direct engagements. While BFF's frontline battleships might outgun the Queenslance, she had more than enough firepower and sheer mass to hold her own in extended combat if it came down to it.

However, it wasn't exactly expected of the BFF corporate and military leadership to charge into battle.

To safeguard their leadership, the Queenslance was the flagship of the BFF 1st Fleet, an enormous continuously operating group including six supercarriers, eight battleships and countless cruisers, destroyers, frigates, corvettes and supply ships.

It was their job to provide a safe buffer between any attacking force and the Queenslance. No matter the cost, those ships were considered expendable in the face of losing leadership.

From where she stood, leaning up against the railing that ran along the external walkway, the horizon was almost blocked out by innumerable warships. Even looking down below her, a corvette buffeted slightly by the waves coming off the gigantic ship it was next to sailed alongside them.

A lightning bolt shot through Lilium as she realised she'd been just standing, staring out at the sea and the fleet for a lot longer than intended.

She walked alongside the ship via the walkway as fast as possible without actually breaking into a jog. Living on board a ship, you quickly learnt the lesson of running on wet surfaces.

As much as she was against the clock, the sight of a familiar man scrubbing the outside of a bulkhead brought her to a halt as she called out to him.

"Heya Jason! How're you doing today?"

He paused his work, turning to look at her before answering her smile with one of his own, bowing slightly while answering.

"Good morning Miss Wolcott, I'm doing just fine thank you very much, I hope you are also doing well?"

He was an older guy, probably in his late 50s or 60s, a rarity these days. Grey and white hairs were shot through his now fading black hair, along with the beard covering most of his worn face. It felt like every line on his skin told a story of someone who had lived long before the world had changed to the one she knew.

As a deckhand, he wasn't given the usual suit or military uniform of the regular crew. They wore good old fashioned loose fitting jumpsuits, usually flecked with paint and oil.

While the style and construction were different, Lilium and Jason found the similarity in their attire amusing enough to start up a friendship off that basis.

"I'm pretty good thanks! Have you got a busy day today?" She asked him, looking at the sponge in his hand and the bucket at his feet.

He followed her gaze slowly, before answering.

"Oh don't you know it. They want to keep the jewel in their crown shining." At that, he reached out slowly and poked the end of her nose very gently, "Although it looks like the real jewel here isn't being shined enough."

"What!? I-I'm being shined plenty! Look! I'm shiny as all hell!" She pouted, now flustered at him.

Jason laughed, although it sounded like the effort of laughing alone was exhausting.

"Oh I know you are, what I mean is that I think the bigwigs that tell us what to do don't appreciate you enough. You're meant for better things than those terrible machines."

The laugher was gone now, replaced by a solemn gaze at the space between them.

She was confused, why would he say that?

"But, the NEXTs let the League keep the people that want to hurt us away. If we didn't have them, who knows what would happen!"

She spread her arms wide, as if to emphasise the size of the issue at hand.

He paused, looking at her hopefully expression, before he gave her a soft smile.

"Of course, I'm sorry. Forgive and old man for not keeping up with the times."

Something about the way he said it bothered Lilium, but she put it aside, deciding not to dwell on it. She slapped him on the shoulder, grinning widely.

"There there it's ok! You're not that old!"

At that point, she remembered what she was supposed to be doing.

"Uwah! I'm really sorry but I've gotta go! I'll talk to you later Jason!" She broke out into a flat sprint, disregarding her previous thoughts on ship safety.

She thought Jason shouted something after her, but the sound of waves crashing against the hull drowned him out.

It was ok though, she'd see him later.

After running for almost ten minutes straight, she was visibly panting, bent over outside the foyer into the administration section of the ship.

Running to your appointment and being very obvious about the fact you had run to your appointment were very different things she had come to understand. Which is why Lilium now took a minute to straighten her hair and make sure that her jumpsuit hadn't twisted weirdly due to its poor fit.

Now confident that she didn't look an absolute state, she rounded the corner, entering the foyer proper, making a beeline for a desk with a young women focused intensely on the screen in front of her.

Thankfully the sound of Lilium's approach was enough to catch her attention without having to speak. Additionally, she was well known on the Queenslance enough that the moment the secretary saw her, she smiled and told Lilium could go through immediately.

It was one of the few things she appreciated about her position and family name. You didn't have to put up with the hassle of others questioning you.

This section of the ship was radically different to the rest. It was more like a mix between luxury hotel and an office space. Ornate wood panelling along the walls and skirting boards, carpeting that matched the first-class quarters she stayed in. Even the ceiling of this corridor was deliberately made high enough to hang crystal chandeliers along its length.

She loved it for the dozens of tiny rainbows they cast when the light struck them right. A shower of colour across the walls like fairies guiding you forwards.

Despite her best efforts to drag out the journey, Lilium eventually found herself standing in front of the enormous wooden double doors that lead to her destination.

In that moment, the teeth of anxiety began to gnaw away at her heart. Very slowly. Taking tiny bites out of her confidence.

Swallowing the growing doubt, she reached over to the side and pressed the buzzer by the door. Instead of a person's voice coming back through, there was simply a subtle click as the lock on the doors undid itself.

Taking that as her que to enter, she pushed the doors gently, feeling their weight, but also the smooth action of their motion.

Those doors might have as well been a portal to another world from some old 20th Century science fiction novel.

She stepped from warmth, gold and light into steel, blue hues and a chilling atmosphere. It wasn't doing Lilium growing anxiety any favours.

Still, there was a part of her mind that was trying to remind her that she shouldn't be so anxious. The person she was meeting might be important, but Lilium had known her for her entire life.

Literally.

Sat at a large glass desk with several off-set monitors and anachronistic ring binders was the CEO of the Bernard and Felix Foundation, Brynhild Wolcott.

She was also Lilium's mother.

Doing her best, she stepped forwards with confidence she really wasn't feeling anymore until she was only a few feet away from the desk. Able to see her mother's face clearly now.

She'd had Lilium while still relatively young and new to the Corporation. Working her way up through various departments of BFF, Brynhild had carved herself the reputation of someone dependable and level headed, often drastically improving the productivity of any area she worked in.

Eventually she found herself working at the highest levels of the Corporation. Organising and directing the departments she had previously been beneath. It didn't take long for the previous CEO to announce her as the successor to his position when he stepped down due to ill health.

From the moment she took control, she led the Corporation to newer and greater heights, overtaking many competitors that they had struggled against for years.

BFF was one of the few Corporations that was virtually unaffected by GA's war in the previous year. Aside from the loss of the Spirit of Motherwill which technically wasn't an active asset in their corporate structure, the Corporation remained at full strength, allowing them to take significant amounts of territory and resources from their former competition.

They now stood shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Leonemeccanica and Rosenthal.

However a lot of this was information that Lilium had picked up from various crew members over the years. She'd only been in basic education until she was around nine or ten.

The sudden stop in her mother's typing shocked her enough to end her train of thought. Her eyes locking onto the face that still hadn't turned away from the monitors.

"You're 10 minutes late. I do hope your conversation with the _deck hand_ was worth the time wasted, Lilium?"

Chills ran up her back as she tried to keep her nerves from showing. Even if she didn't like to admit it, her mother could be a little scary at times.

"Um," she started, "It wasn't a conversation, I was just making sure he was doing his job properly!"

Every ounce of false confidence she could muster was crammed into that single line and yet the CEO's gaze burned through it in an instant, giving her a look of sheer disbelief as if looking over a pair of glasses that didn't currently exist.

Fortunately, there was no retribution for her blatant lie. Her mother apparently brushed the issue aside in her mind and now turned to face her properly, hands clasped in front of her mouth, obscuring Lilium's view of her face.

"You asked for this meeting to be arranged as you had a request for me. I assume that this request still stands?" She said this calmly, her eyes boring in Lilium as if searching for what she wanted before she could even say it.

"Y-yes! Of course."

Her palms were starting to sweat as she crossed the point of no return. But why was she thinking of this like that? She'd set up this meeting three weeks ago! Why now at the point of being able to actually ask was she hesitating?

Swallowing the doubt rising in her heart, Lilium straightened herself slightly and took a deep breath, calming herself before speaking. Grateful that her mother patiently waited for the request.

"I want to first say that I appreciate everything you, and by extension BFF, have done for me in supporting my wish to become a Lynx the League is proud of. I know that I haven't be able to contribute much to the actual war effort against the people trying to hurt us, but I want to put myself forward and make a difference. If there is anyway possible, I would like to put forward my request to move from the Lynx post-training program and be put into active duty in service to the League and the people it protects!"

Lilium finished, and waited.

And waited.

Her mother was unflinching, giving absolutely no hint to her thought process as the last syllables of Lilium's speech left her lips.

After a pause that had only just started to become uncomfortable, her mother sighed deeply, sinking back into her seat and rubbing the bridge of her nose as if her sinuses had just swollen in that very moment.

"Lilium, I did explain this to you when you began your training. You becoming a Lynx trainee when you did set an unheard of precedent. If you were to actually start combat operations, live action against the enemy we face at your age? How would that reflect on the League? On BFF? Or even myself as a leader and as your mother? You might have had a different childhood than most, grown up better off and faster than others, but you are still a child and you must remember that. There were plenty of board members in both BFF and the League that wanted to decline your application to Collard, I had to work exceptionally hard to convince a majority to allow you to even become a trainee. I can't even imagine what they'd say if they knew I'd said you could participate in actual combat. Do you understand? I'm not saying this to deny you what you want, because I only want you to be happy, but there are some things I just can't do."

Lilium perfectly understood what she was saying, even agreed with it to some degree. But she didn't come this far to give up at the first hurdle. Knowing that her mother would have likely declined her request, Lilium had prepared a couple of, perhaps underhanded, pieces of information to push her case.

"I do understand. I really do and I know the position you're in because of me. But I also know the position that BFF is in right now."

Watching her mother's eyes narrow as she spoke gave clear indication that this could go any which way depending on her next words.

"Look, people around here, they talk. I know that… I know that Ms. Shelley is gone. As much as BFF doesn't want to acknowledge it but if something isn't done soon, not only will the rest of the League find out about our loss, but the public will as well. Maybe I don't know exactly what the consequences of that will be, but I'm sure it will be bad. We need a top class Lynx to prove to everyone else that we didn't survive the war by hiding as so many think. You've seen the training reports and simulation results from Collard. You know I can hold my own against any Lynx out there, I just want a chance to prove myself to you!"

"Please Lilium don't force this issue, I've told you my reasons, you're just too young! I don't think you know how serious this is, no one would accep-"

"Ms. Shelley leaving isn't the only thing people talk about in Collard."

Pulling what was probably the scariest thing she could think of, Lilium cut her mother off, speaking over her. She needed to keep this momentum to stop a counter point.

"You know there are rumors of a Lynx that is kept off the register, working for Omer's most secret research division. A child, younger than me, working missions and nobody wants to talk about them. If that's true, then my age isn't the problem that the League would have you believe."

Lilium was visibly shaking at this point, unable to contain her nerves at being so anxious about potentially making her mother angry. But it had to be done, or she'd never get another chance for years to come.

Her mother broke eye contact first, leaning back in her seat, staring at empty space as if lost in thought before finally letting a small sigh escape, speaking without looking at Lilium.

"Looks like you take after me in the end. I guess I have no one to blame but myself. I will put you forward for an exception. I can't promise anything, but as you're clearly so passionate about this, I feel that I should give you just this one chance. Now leave before I change my mind."

Lilium did just that. Bowing quickly, not saying a word as she turned and walked out with considerably more vigor than she had entered with.

While she had gotten what she wanted, something about the way her mother spoke had bothered her.

Was there something she wasn't being told? -7


	4. Act 1: Ch 3: Search and Destroy

AN: Apologies all for this taking so long! It's taking a little to get into the swing of things but I'm slowly getting that engine going again. If you want more regular updates as to progress on an upcoming chapter or just other information regarding my fics, you can follow my writing account Dunnwriting! I hope you enjoy this and continue to look forward to new chapters!

Airspace near Former Memphis, Transporter Hold

18:10

14/02/2113

Travelling to and from the battlefield was the part of any mission that Alicia loathed more than any other. Have her staring down a gun barrel. Have her bleeding out in a muddy ditch.

Anything but sitting, waiting, mulling over the unending disquiet that lingered in her head.

In the cockpit of her NEXT, she had to wonder to herself.

How many hours did her brother spend doing exactly this?

Shuttled to and from warzone to warzone, battlefield to battlefield. Spilling the blood of hundreds or even thousands every time he went out. Treated as little more than an animal with a chain around its neck, forced to bite on command.

A despicable, pitiable life.

No one would wish to live in that way, yet here she sat, walking that exact same path. An animal, a Lynx of Collard and by extension the League of Corporations.

She did this not out of some misguided sense of duty or a false belief in maintaining order. Not for anything as noble as faith or wretched as money.

Every step forwards, every life taken, everything was for revenge.

It couldn't be called good, you could even say it wasn't right, but it was all she had left now. If she stopped believing in her revenge, she'd have nothing left to live for. So she strived on, committing atrocity after atrocity, killing when ordered just to inch closer to her goal.

A life cursed to end the moment whether she succeeded or failed.

But at the end of the day, she had made peace with this inevitability. It wasn't something she was going to fight against. Why fight against something as certain as the Sun rising in the morning or Spring becoming Summer.

You'd only lose your mind if you didn't accept such things. But maybe that was just it. Somewhere along the line she already had lost her mind, this was just the outcome of that happening.

Oh well. There was no one left to care about her.

All gone.

The green light indicating an incoming com channel started blinking at her. It was likely her supervisor, Sajjan.

She opened the channel, "Whiplash here"

"We've got a little time before we reach the mission area, did you have any last questions before we begin? We probably won't have time for Q&A when the bullets start flying."

"Is that supposed to be your attempt at being supportive?" Alicia asked, lacing the words with snark.

"No, I just don't want to deal with you falling apart because you forgot to ask something important." He shot back with an equally cutting tone.

A thin grin spread across her face, there was that front again.

"No. I don't need to know anything else. We have our plan and our target. That's all that's necessary."

"Understood, standby until the drop signal."

With just that, the channel closed. Alicia guessed he didn't have anything else to add himself.

She settled back into the seat, closing her eyes not to sleep, but just to rest. The fight wouldn't last long, she'd make sure of that. But if it wasn't decided in the first blow, then she'd need every ounce of strength to keep up with a veteran pilot, even if she held the technological advantage.

Just like Sajjan had said previously, Ravens wouldn't hold back from underhanded tactics to level the playing field. It wouldn't be surprising if this Raven did something unexpected. Expecting the unexpected might sound like bad advice, but what it really meant was, things won't go as planned.

While at this point, she couldn't quite think of a suitable counter strategy for hers, Alicia would be thoroughly disappointed if he went down without a fight. If she wanted to get close to the League leadership, she needed to make a good impression on them.

Sajjan was apparently being liberal with his approximation of 'a little time' as the com light blinked again, this time the pilot of the transporter informing the two of them that they were almost at the drop point and to get ready to go.

Alicia began the standard procedure to decouple the NEXT from the gantry. If she had be first to go, she could have remained hooked up til the last second, but being in the second gantry meant clambering over the empty first gantry to exit the transporter.

From what she'd heard, Leonemeccanica had been commissioned by the League as a whole to resolve the many complaints that the Lynx were having about the transporters by designing a new model to replace it. It was still early days though, they wouldn't enter service for at least a year minimum.

The Corporations had pushed themselves to the breaking point, rushing to develop new Armored Core frames using the technology recovered from Maxwell. Several new NEXT class systems had been developed, tested and produced in only the six months following the war, but it had hampered their ability to work on any other project. Meaning that progress in many other fields had fallen behind in certain aspects.

Not that it was really any concern to her. So long as it killed her enemies then that was just fine.

Finally at the transporter's open rear, she let her NEXT topple out the back, embracing the incomparable sensation that came with uncontrolled free fall.

Falling was strange. Those seconds of weightlessness, she loved every moment of it.

It couldn't last forever though, as the ground rushed towards her, she fired the NEXT's boosters, stabilising her descent and aligning herself with White Glint which already stood on the baked desert ground.

The moment she touched down, with surprising grace, the com light blinked again.

"Nice landing," said Sajjan, as if it was an off-hand mention, "You know the drill, no names from now on, only NEXT names. I'm not Sajjan and you aren't Alice. Got it?"

She waved her hand dismissively as if he could see her, not willing to comment on how White Glint wasn't technically a NEXT but a bastardised AC with NEXT upgrades forced into the frame, "Yeah yeah I've got it. White Glint it is."

"Good to hear, Whiplash. Right, let's move to the indicated position on your HUD, we'll wait for the enemy there."

"Understood, Whiplash switching to combat mode."

"White Glint switching to combat mode."

With that short exchange, the two of them lit their boosters and began heading towards the skyline of a relatively large population centre.

Whiplash's HUD put it around 20km away, so covering that distance wouldn't take very long at all at their current cruising speed. Their target was due to arrive in the mission area in roughly half an hour, giving them a realistic buffer in which to set up their ambush.

The externally mounted radar system she had equipped would come in handy in keeping track of the target should they lose sight of it at any point. Her assault rifle had decent range but over a certain limit each round's effective accuracy would rapidly plummet almost as fast as its own velocity.

The missile launcher was certainly an option, but any pilot worth their salt would have the ability to react to missile lock/launch signals well before impact. Firing unguided could work, but missile's low speed compared to rockets would mean having to factor in a huge lead on the target in question.

Just as she was pondering this, the com light blinked and Alicia opened the channel.

"Whiplash here."

"I just want to clarify something," It was Sajjan, "You are fully aware that you could die during this, aren't you? No one is going to swoop in and call this off just because things aren't going your way. If it hits the fan out there, you've got to deal with that as it happens."

Alicia, gave a small bitter laugh at that, "Do you honestly think I'm so naive? That I don't know what I'm getting myself into? I'll forgive the misstep just this once."

If nothing else, she wanted him to eat those words and his concern. She didn't need it.

She had come to learn that more often than not, the people who worried about her ended up being the ones in need of help. A soldier from another branch of Rayleonard's special forces had once told her that she had 'A natural aptitude for the battlefield, like you were supposed to be here.'

Alicia had wondered what exactly they had meant by that for some time, but perhaps recently, since her brother's passing at least, she'd come to understand it.

From loving and kind parents who had worked to help the world had come two children born with the capacity to undo it all. Two children who had tried to do what they thought was right and ended thousands upon thousands of lives. Years and years of killing and destruction in pursuit of each other. Piling up innumerable corpses to try and reach the other's outstretched hand.

Only for their fingers to slip away.

The approaching buildings thankfully snapped her out of the sullen train of thought, bringing her back to the reality before her.

The two of them entered the population centre, weaving between the hollow dead husks of buildings taller than the war machines they used, soon reaching rough and cratered tarmac roads. Towards the centre, there was still significant signs of protracted battle, but the layout of the blocks hadn't been altered drastically. Skyscrapers hundreds of metres tall loomed over them, dozens of vehicles lay abandoned or destroyed along streets and on corners. Hundreds of thousands of broken windows and shattered store fronts.

All the signs of life, now in pieces around them.

It was only a few extra minutes to reach the building they were aiming for, using their boosters, the two of them shot upwards landing on the flat rooftop of a former banking building as gently as possible. Sajjan had picked this building in particular because it was reinforced and could support their weight so long as they didn't start jumping around too much.

They both sunk down to one knee, facing in the direction that their target was due to appear. Sajjan spoke over the com channel that had been left open since he last spoke.

"We've probably got around ten minutes until we have visual contact of the Raven's transport truck. In the event that we aren't able to disable his AC before he deploys, what is your plan of action?"

"You mean besides destroying him? Or did you want the specifics?"

There was a sound not dissimilar to coffee being ground over the line.

"Are you always this deliberately aggravating?"

"Only with people I don't think are taking me seriously. It's an excellent way to get under their skin so I can kill them easier."

"Are you planning on killing me then? You've got some guts to say that to my face I'll give you that."

A wry grin spread across Alicia's face, "Oh I'm not, but that'd be a thrill wouldn't it? Taking on the League's last Original? What better way to go than facing down the strongest pilot alive."

"Do you have a death wish or something? Besides, Original or not, I'm not the strongest. Gerald holds that position in Collard. You should have learnt that before you even signed up to be a Lynx."

She had to scoff at that, "You're a bad liar you know? No one in Collard believes any of Gerald's mission reports, the League can showboat him all they want but there's something wrong about how underwraps they keep him."

Sajjan apparently had no response, choosing to drop his original question and stay silent.

They only had to wait a few more minutes before a small cloud of dust crested the horizon, Alicia magnifying the centre of her main display like a pseudo sniper scope to try and identify the incoming object despite her certainty that it was the enemy they'd been waiting for.

After a second of squinting, her suspicion was confirmed.

"White Glint, confirming target approach at heading 079. I will be engaging at close range with right arm weapon system."

"Confirmed and understood Whiplash. Mission has begun. Show the League what you can offer."

Obviously a prepared line but one he had to say to maintain appearances of willingness at any rate.

White Glint backed off to the far corner of the rooftop while Alicia moved Whiplash so it was behind a raised section obscuring it from view in the direction of the Raven's approach.

A timer counted down until the target would be in the optimum firing point. All Alicia had to do was wait for zero, move around the corner and fire down upon it.

She only had to wait a minute. Simple.

Breath in. Breath out.

 _Remember, just aim and fire. Nothing else to it. This is child's play._

Thirty seconds.

Breath in. Breath out.

 _I'll do you proud brother, just you watch._

Zero.

She slipped Whiplash around the corner of the building's raised stairwell in a single smooth motion, rifle in both hands shouldered with the digital gunsight over the predefined point just as the truck rolled over it.

Without an ounce of hesitation she squeezed the trigger, the rifle kicking back as it spewed forth a torrent of high explosive shells.

The lightly armoured truck disappeared in a cloud of detonations and sand as the NEXT's rifle cut it to pieces, shredding both the cab and the trailer, it's cargo exploding in a series of secondary blasts that shook the building she stood on.

After emptying half of the weapon's magazine, she stopped firing, allowing the dust to settle.

"Confirming target destroyed, can we call that a miss-"

"Whiplash move!"

At the same time the channel cut dead, Alicia's HUD lit up with lock warnings, indicating a hostile FCS had targeted her.

She had no time to consider the incoming direction of fire or it's point of origin, instead firing Whiplash's boosters backwards, flinging herself over the edge of the building as fast as possible.

The split second warning had been enough as the spot her NEXT had occupied a moment earlier was turned to dust, the entire rooftop of the building billowing out as it exploded outwards, the top five floors disappearing in the blast as debris scattered across the newly formed battlezone.

Whiplash's PA field took the brunt of the attack, dropping by 12%, the pieces of rubble from the building bounced off at times but the slower pieces passed through and harmlessly shattered against her armour plating.

She landed on the road beside the building, still sliding backwards, ripping up the asphalt as she went, a small car was sent skittering away as she plowed through it.

Alicia had no idea where Sajjan was, he'd completely dropped off her radar and the enemy wasn't on it either. She panned the headpiece of her NEXT around, the FCS scanning constantly for a threat of any kind.

It didn't have to wait long as it lit up red moments later when something slammed into the ground around 200 metres ahead of her, just next to the building she'd been on top of.

Alicia switched from her handgun to the missile launcher, aiming both it and her rifle at the cloud of grit and dirt that had been kicked up by the impact.

It didn't take long to clear.

In a small crater of shattered tarmac stood an Armored Core, staring straight at her. It was a Rosenthal TYPE-HOGIRE frame with an Eqbal medium machine gun in its right hand and an old pre-Raven's Ark GA shotgun from back when they had actually attempted to make AC parts. It had no extension parts on it shoulders, but it did have a large MSAC missile system on one shoulder and on the other, an Arisawa grenade cannon, the source of the blast earlier.

That cannon was likely the biggest threat as the missile launcher could be evaded easily and the machine gun and shotgun could be dealt with by her PA for the most part.

For the time being none of it's weapons were leveled at her, but her NEXT was constantly giving a warning tone indicating that she was being targeted. Even if this Raven wasn't openly displaying hostility, a crosshair was still on her.

The com light blinked, she assumed it would be Sajjan trying to get a hold of her after the channel died, but there was every chance now that it wasn't him. She tentatively opened the line, but didn't say anything. An abrasive voice rang out in the cockpit.

"Well what do we have here? A little baby Lynx out on her first hunt falling for the Raven's tricks? Isn't that embarrassing! The League must be getting scared if they're bringing garbage like you out."

This was pathetic, he was trying to spook her out on the assumption that she was some thin skinned rookie fresh out of basic training? Was that really his grand strategy? If so, undermining that assumption would be the fastest way to break him down. Psychologically crack your enemy and any skill, tactic or ability they possess suddenly becomes a hinderance to them.

So she played the silent card, muting his channel on her end and attempting to open a line with Sajjan.

He answered just as he also showed up on radar just behind her, landing softly enough to not even crack the road beneath White Glint.

"Now this is unexpected, I backed out to remove the temptation to intervene and yet here I find you trash talking with the enemy?"

Alicia scoffed at him, "He's the one doing all the talking, I haven't actually said a word yet. Is he still going?"

"Looks like it."

"Well what's the plan in this situation then?"

"The plan never changed, the objective remains."

Alicia couldn't stop a thin, wry smile spreading across her face at hearing that, "Understood." She let go of the controls, rolling her shoulders and stretching her legs.

She wanted to enjoy this opportunity.

Sajjan spoke one last time before cutting the channel.

"I will provide no support henceforth. Show me what you've got."

The second White Glint's feet left the ground, she unmuted the channel with the Raven and grabbed Whiplash's controls, throwing the NEXT forwards towards the unsuspecting enemy.

"What? You little sh-" He spluttered out in surprise, quickly cut off as Alicia rushed him, rifle blazing and missiles screaming out of the launcher.

She wasn't aiming for any part of him specifically, just trying to catch him off guard and unnerve him. Any damage incurred was just a bonus.

The Raven did exactly as she wanted, stumbling backwards, boosters flaring wildly as he tried to put distance between the two of them. He fired his machine gun in Alicia's general direction, but his erratic movement threw his aim off drastically, not to mention that Whiplash's PA deflected any rounds that were on target.

She wasn't particularly concerned with incoming fire, for the time being, she was putting so much pressure on the Raven that his thought process was entirely dominated by trying to escape her unrelenting offensive.

Alicia gave her target no quarter.

On every front he was overwhelmed with a constant onslaught of rifle fire, missile barrages and handgun shells. She weaved around every line of fire the Raven attempted. Feinting not only side to side, but pulling off false leaps into the air, only to duck low, still pushing on.

Eventually he completely disengaged, burning a hard right, sliding down a side street, breaking line of sight with Alicia.

It bought him a second of respite, if that at best. Alicia wasn't going to let something like a building slow her down. There was no stopping her now.

Swinging Whiplash out wide rounding the corner, she pushed the boosters to their absolute limit, lifting off the ground with the combined momentum of the manoeuvre she ran along the side of the far building on the street the Raven had tried to run to.

"Damn you damn you damn you damn you! Go to hell League dog!" He screamed, trying to hit Alicia with the shotgun in its left hand. He got off a single shell before she was virtually on top of him again.

 _Not so fast!_

During the manoeuvre, she'd thrown the assault rifle at the Raven, the timing resulting in it crashing into his left arm, knocking it wide and leaving him open to a counter attack.

Alicia followed through flawlessly, using Whiplash's now free hand to strike the enemy AC in the head, almost completely caving it in and crushing the right half of its optics.

With her target now half blind and reeling from the unexpected blow, Alicia began the final stages of her attack. Following through from the initial hit, she then reached out and pulled the AC in close, driving the barrel of her handgun into the shoulder joint of its right arm.

She pulled the trigger again and again and again, pumping round after round into the gap between armour plates.

It didn't hold long, the limb soon hanging by hydraulic lines and power cabling, swinging freely.

"W-what the fuck are you!? You… You goddamn monster!"

She released him, taking his limp, mangled arm in her free hand and ripping it completely away, before swinging it like a club, taking the AC's head clean off.

It's footing and balance finally gave way, the decapitated machine keeling over backwards, bright sparks and smoke pouring from its ruined right arm joint and neck. With it's head destroyed, the com channel that had been open between them was forcefully terminated.

She figured it was about time she spoke to this Raven.

Reaching out, she gripped onto the front of the AC's core, digging Whiplash's fingers under the armour before planting a foot on the lower section of the torso and pulling the entire front section away in a single smooth action.

With it, the front of the cockpit came away with it, exposing the pilot inside. Alicia tossed the hunk of twisted metal aside and stood over the fallen AC, the optics burning down on the comparatively tiny man.

She could see that he was injured. His leg had been crushed at some point and he was bleeding heavily from his head, crimson running down his face in wide rivers.

Turning on her external speakers she finally spoke to him.

"I thought Ravens were supposed to be intelligent? But at the end of it all you're the one lying broken on the floor by the hands of a monster. You were spot on, I'll give you that, because between you and me," She lent down, the head of her NEXT only metres away from the open cockpit, "I am a monster. If you could only see the bodies behind me, you might have thought twice about this. But I guess that's just it isn't it."

She leant away, standing up again as White Glint entered her radar range and landed next to her, just as gently as before.

The com light blinked on as expected, Alicia opening the channel almost immediately.

"Well done Whiplash, it looks like you've completed this test flawlessly, I guess we can take him alive. But I have to ask, where did you learn to fight like that?"

Turning off the external speakers, she answered, "Huh? Nowhere in particular. It just flows together and makes sense I guess." In truth it was mostly built up from her military training along with a very healthy dash of combat pragmatism allowing her to fight in such an unorthodox manner. "What makes you ask?"

"Nothing," Sajjan quickly dismissed her all of a sudden, "It just reminded me of someone."

Alicia didn't have anything to add to that, turning back to face the Raven who was still staring up at them, teeth gritted in both pain and apparent anger. Flicking the speakers back on she spoke again, the optics of both White Glint and Whiplash gazing down.

"So, what to do with you."

The pilot leaned up as best he could before yelling at them.

"You think you've won? You think this is all there is to us?! League dogs like you are nothing. All blindly following your masters waiting for the scraps from the table. Letting this world die because it's easier than doing the right thing. You all make me sick!" With that, summoning as much effort as he had left in him, the Raven spat at them, barely managing to make it out of the cockpit.

"Killing me gets you not one step closer to us, as there will be dozens of volunteers to take my place. Line Ark will never let you take me, they'll come for me! Havok will lead us all to victory as we crush the League! Not today, maybe not in a month, but when you're least expecting it, we'll carve the heart out of you and let you watch it stop beating!"

He seemed to be either running out of breath or willpower to keep living, either way, he was dying slowly before them.

Alicia was about to write him off, when he spoke one last time.

"As for you, monster. I hope you enjoy this while it lasts, because soon enough, you won't have anywhere to call home. We'll come for your friends, your family, everyone you love. We'll kill them all."

She could feel her heart rate skyrocket, rage coursing through her barely controlled.

 _Too late, someone beat you to it._

Turning ever so slightly to White Glint, speaking as if the Raven couldn't hear them.

"Say, out of curiosity," Alicia said, barely containing her anger, "Was there a bonus for bringing him in alive?"

A short pause followed before Sajjan answered, "No, it's at your discretion. I don't have a say in it."

The smug look and anger on the Raven's face melted away in an instant.

"I see, at my discretion."

Alicia leveled the barrel of Whiplash's handgun at the AC's cockpit, making sure the sights lined up with the man desperately trying to escape his coffin.

She fired and fired again and again, until the magazine ran dry.


	5. Act 1: Ch 4: Fire Forged Flesh

Airspace near former city Seattle, Dropship Hold

08:45

15/05/2106

If there was one thing I had come to learn over the weeks of basic training I had undergone since joining Rayleonard's private armed forces, was that the taste of air filtered through a helmet filter tasted like someone was breathing coffee and metal into your face.

The armour they gave you wasn't exactly comfortable. It came only in standardised sizes, meaning that there was some discrepancy as to where the protective plates ended up. Some didn't cover quite the wrong part or sat too low or high.

Inexpensive. Plentiful. Disposable.

The qualities of their equipment matched the Corporation's opinion of us. The grunts on the ground.

There wasn't even that many soldiers if you compared its overall size to what I'd heard about Leonemeccanica or Rosenthal who had combined force personnel numbering into the hundreds of thousands.

Rayleonard had taken the policy of relying on its small but extremely well equipped and trained special forces teams to accomplish anything that the regular troops couldn't.

Of course, there were jobs even the spec ops couldn't handle, or situations where they wanted to display a little muscle, they had an- No _the_ ace up their sleeve.

My brother. The Ninebreaker.

Even thinking about him in that position was enough to set my teeth grinding and open up a sickening pit in my gut.

The last image of his face, twisted in pain and grief was burned into my mind.

Everything that had happened eventually led to this moment right now, where I sat in ill-fitting body armour with this shitty helmet on my head and dozens of other unfortunate souls ready to be put into the most profitable meat grinder available.

It wasn't hard to imagine that if he knew where I was then he'd feel exactly the same, if not worse knowing him. I'll deal with that once I drag him out of the hell he willingly put himself into for my sake.

I have the rest of my life to make it up to him if he was that upset about it.

The universe apparently was working in my favour as the dropship all 30 of us were crammed into suddenly dropped around 20ft in the air, causing everyone to tense up and derailed the train of thought I'd found myself locked onto.

As if to make sure I had been properly distracted, the person opposite me who hadn't put their helmet on yet chose that exact moment to unload his previous meal all over his lap and the floor between us.

I silently thanked him for this as I was now suddenly so grateful for the comparatively refreshing scent of coffee and metal wafting through the helmet filter and into my nostrils.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the person next to me shaking his head at the lumpy mess in front of us.

It seemed like this wasn't the first time he'd seen it.

Thinking on that, I had to wonder, how many in this dropship were fresh faced recruits like me? On another note, how many had already taken a life like me?

I had to admit, but I didn't feel quite as nervous as I thought I would. I mean, I'd already killed two people before even signing up to the military, how hard could three or four or however many more be?

I mean, it had been so easy back then.

The dropship shook again, everyone around me turned their heads slightly, glancing around like frightened animals. I wish I could have passed it off as another bout of turbulence but that unfortunately wasn't the case. The repetitive, dull thuds just outside and the second shudder through the hull confirmed everyone's fear.

We'd finally made our way into the enemy's anti-aircraft screen.

Airburst shells rocked us from near-misses and the sound of countermeasure pods being fired announced the presence of enemy missiles being fired at us.

All in all, a pretty subpar experience if I had to review the ordeal.

I won't lie, the thought of mindlessly getting blown out of the sky before even getting dirt under my boots wasn't appealing. My hands were painfully gripping the supporting framework that surrounded each seat.

Our platoon leader, a young lieutenant, stood up while clinging to that same framework and made her way to the dropship's exit ramp. She exaggeratedly tapped the side of her helmet, indicating for everyone to put their's on.

After a moment's pause, her voice rang out loud and clear through the helmet's internal speakers, cutting through the dull roar of jet turbines and AAA.

"Everyone, equipment check! If you die out there because you put your shit on backwards then it's on you, not the Corporation."

I pulled on the various section of armour to make sure they didn't move too much, but the aforementioned fitting issue meant that they still shifted slightly despite my best efforts. I tugged on the tactical vest that rested over the top of the chest plate holding the extra magazines for my rifle as well as the holster on my hip that carried my sidearm.

Nothing broke off in my hands which was probably the best I could hope for in this situation.

The dropship lurched to one side violently, the lieutenant barely managing to stay on her feet. The lights in the hold cut from white to a dull crimson, the lamp above the ramp's exit lit up orange.

One minute until touchdown.

"Ok, everyone up and weapons check! Be ready to start shooting the second this ramp drops."

At that, everyone including myself, unbuckled themselves from their seats, standing up as best we could given the nature of our unstable footing.

Rayleonard expected the impossible even from its lowest cannon fodder.

Pulling the sidearm from its holster on my hip, I ejected the magazine once before sliding it back in and pulling the slide back, inspecting it to make sure a round was chambered before releasing it and flicking off the external safety.

After holstering the pistol, I reached around to the side of my seat where my rifle was secured, buttstock first into a bracket welded to the seat mounting.

It was a bulky, ugly thing. Thankfully being bullpup cut its overall length down but the fact it fired 7.5mm rounds meant that it kicked like someone punching you in the shoulder with every round fired.

Basic training had drilled it into us that automatic fire would likely result in you hitting everything except your target in the best case scenario. Semi-automatic, controlled fire was the standard practice and we'd spent most of our time on firing ranges trying to at least hit the target on a regular basis.

As much as I found it amusing to see my comrades rounds disappearing into the sandbags behind their target in puffs of dust, I couldn't exactly call myself a crack shot either.

Just like with the sidearm, I removed the magazine, making sure it left the well cleanly. While the weight of it indicated that it was full, I had to, as per procedure, visually inspect it to make sure it actually had bullets it. That would be a depressing way to die, forgetting to put ammunition in your own damn gun.

After confirming that indeed I would have the material capability to kill, I slid the magazine back into its rightful home at the rear of the weapon.

Twisting it to the side and using my left hand, I then pulled the charging handle back to chamber the first round from the magazine. Holding the handle back, I did the standard 3-point check on the open chamber and ensure that the round had seated properly.

It was tedious stuff, but they didn't teach us it for nothing.

No one wanted to charge into a firefight only to hear the dull, deadman's click of a misfire.

Another shudder, even more powerful than the last, shaking me to my core rolled through the dropship.

I couldn't hear it, but I felt the clack of the charging handle slid forwards. I couldn't quite place it, but something felt…

Wrong.

Like I'd forgotten something important, something that everyone else had managed to bring but maybe I'd left behind somewhere.

A burst of armour piercing rounds shot through the hull on the far side of the dropship, several soldiers jerked in their seats, held in place, trapped by the restraints that were supposed to keep them safe.

In the low light, I could see thin rivers of red flowing towards me through the feet of those sat in front of me.

The lamp above the lieutenant began blinking, on and then off every second.

30 seconds until the ramp dropped.

A countdown.

There was another explosion, but its tone was off, it wasn't the dull thud of AAA airburst shells, it was more like someone had detonated a bomb about 100m away from us.

"That was dropship 03 going down, we're the only one getting into this LZ, make it fucking count!" The Lieutenant wasn't looking at us anymore when she said that, she had one arm wrapped around a support bar and the other shouldered her rifle, aiming it at the ramp.

I looked ahead at the one who'd been sick earlier. The unit network had now kicked in and ID'd them as Private Gillian Virdenson, No.48 of our 52 member platoon. She was visibly shaking at this point, you could see it in the barrel of her rifle.

I gave them a thumbs up, the only thing I could think of at the time.

The shaking didn't stop, but I got a weak thumbs up back.

I couldn't get rid of that nagging feeling though. The undeniable sensation that I was going into this lacking something crucial.

At the end of the day, if I'd forgotten it, maybe it wasn't so important.

"This is it! Brace!"

In a split second everything lurched forwards, the red interior lighting flickered, scattering distorted crimson silhouetted shadows across the faceless soldiers surrounding her.

Was my heart supposed to be beating so fast?

The lamp turned green. "Everyone out!"

The harnesses holding us in place came loose, most of us stood up. A handful just, fell forwards. Dead before we even touched down.

I couldn't remember what I was supposed to remember.

I didn't have anymore time to think. Such a luxury couldn't be afforded on the battlefield.

The ramp dropped.

People pushing from behind, forcing me forwards into those ahead who were still making their way out. Light filtered in but it wasn't bright. It was dim, hazy, like it was pouring in through a smeared filter of brown, grey and red. Over the sound of boots, I heard the roar of machine gun fire, the crack of our rifles in front opening up, the howl of missiles passing us by, the scream of jet engines itching to burn away.

I took my first step onto the ramp, ready to enter the fray, ready to move forwards towards my goal.

Instead, the soldier standing in front of me, just off to the side was Gillian Virdenson, No.48 of our 52 member platoon. She'd taken that same first step to the left of me.

I watched as the back of her head and helmet exploded outwards, blossoming like a violent rose, a large calibre machine gun round ripping through her head.

Bone, brain matter and vibrant ruby was sprayed across us all, splattering across my helmet's faceplate. She collapsed into a motionless heap, the shattered, stained visor staring up at me.

Now I remembered. I remembered what I'd forgotten that was so important.

It was fear.

Of course the light filtering through was tinted red, there was a faint, thin haze of blood in the air.

In that singular frozen moment, I saw a glimpse of what I had signed myself up for.

I almost couldn't see the asphalt of the junction we'd landed on, there were too many bodies. It was a multi-colour mish-mash display of civilians, militia and Leonemeccanica soldiers, stained brown with mud, blood and filth kicked up by explosions cracking the tarmac.

We were about to add their own colours to the collage.

I took my second, unsteady step down the ramp.

However, being half blinded by the fluids and tissue from inside Gillian's head, I didn't notice the body that my third step was interrupted by.

I stumbled.

No time to catch myself with my hands full of my gun, I slipped sideways towards the edge of the ramp.

My body hit the deck like dead weight, visor slamming into the edge, the sound of splintering glass resounding through my head over the sound of gunfire and orders that no one was listening to anymore.

The helmet's HUD shot into static, no longer stable as the emitter malfunctioned.

I couldn't see.

Between the blood and the fractured glass, the world had become a blur.

I couldn't hear.

The com was nothing but static now, the dull sound of machine gun and rifles pounding over the screaming noise.

I couldn't breathe.

The helmet filters were filling with water and dirt, my mouth tasted of filth, grit and blood.

My chest hurt. Apparently in the time between smashing my face on the edge of the ramp and my present position, I had fallen off and was now lying face down on the ground.

Rounds were slamming into bodies around me as enemy suppressive fire spilled over from their intended target.

I had to move. No matter what if I didn't move, I was dead. If I was dead…

No one would save my brother.

Half-blind and disoriented I scrambled on hands and feet over broken hands and mangled feet.

I didn't look at their twisted faces, their bodies, if I did, I might have hesitated.

All I could think, was keep moving, keep my head down, keep my hand on my gun, keep my brother in my head.

Suddenly, I found my back to a concrete roadblock, the sound of weapons fire having died down somewhat. Intermittent bursts of machine gun fire and rifles rang out but no rounds seemed to be coming my way anymore.

I realised by that point that I could hardly breathe with the filters in my ruined helmet still completely clogged.

Finding myself gasping for air after my mad scramble for safety, I unfastened my helmet, ripping it off as fast as possible and dumping the now useless equipment by my side.

I gulped down air like I'd been drowning, inhaling violently. Nothing felt better than that tainted oxygen pouring into my lungs.

However my reprieve was short lived as with my now cleared ears, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching the safe haven I'd created in this hellhole.

I clumsily shouldered my rifle, the barrel weaving from side to side as I tried to triangulate the source of the noise.

My heart was pounding like the machine guns that had just tried to kill me, the noise was unrelenting in my head.

Then I saw him, slowly walking forwards, his back to me, rifle performing the same weaving from side to side, seeking a target.

Quietly, I raised my gun, eye to the sight as I trained it on him, my heart accelerating further at the thought of taking a life.

So easy, just like before.

He turned just for a moment, I caught his eye in the crosshair of my rifle as I pulled the trigger.

The single 7mm round sailed straight, passing cleanly through the right of the soldier's neck. Vibrant crimson sprayed wide, showering me, the ground and the pillar behind him with a streak of red.

He spun from the impact, dropping to a seated position with his back to that pillar he'd just stained. A gurgling noise bubbled out from the wound, stomach acid and bile foamed up with the blood running freely, pooling around him.

I froze, my eyes unable to rip themselves away from the sight before them.

He was a boy, barely my age if not younger.

The eyes looking back at me teared up as he floundered, arms reaching for me but also weakly falling to his sides and in his lap.

I watched as the life flowed out of him.

I had been wrong, yet again.

This was nothing like before.

I thought was ready, I thought I was prepared for what I would see and do.

With my back to the roadblock, I pulled my knees in close, as close as possible and cradled my head with one wet, stained hand, the other still on my gun.

I couldn't help but sob at the life I had taken.


	6. Act 1: Ch 5: Ghosts That We Knew

A/N: GOOD LORD I'M SORRY THIS TOO SO LONG. It took a few weeks but I finally broke through the writers block that has been weighing on me since I started writing this so going forward the pace _should_ be a lot faster. To hopefully make up for the long wait, this chapter is the second longest I've written for any fic so I'd like to think it's worth as much as 3 regular chapter updates. Ch.6 will likely be a lot shorter and with my newfound inspiration it should be out within the next week or so. Again, if you want to follow my writing account on twitter Dunnwriting, you'll be able to see regular updates as to when and what I'm writing and how far along I am with the current chapter. Please enjoy and feel free to leave feedback as usual!

League Capital, District 4

13:30

07/07/2114

At some point early on in its existence, the League had realised that the public's opinion of their rule was perhaps somewhat underneath what they had both originally expected and desired.

While it hadn't even reached the stage of open public protest, which could be easily suppressed with militarised police units, they had taken note of numerous discussions on forums regarding the way that the League was running things.

When the leading members of the League, the CEOs of the Corporations and their senior advisors, met to discuss future plans and operations, they decided against using force for the time being to see if they could curry favour with potential dissenters before they have a chance to even consider organising groups against them.

The League had trouble enough with roaming independent warlords and scrabbling groups of raiders to consider dealing with any internal resistance.

That wasn't even factoring the only threat that was a legitimate concern despite what some League members might want to think. A faction who until recently had been only inches away from being engaged in open warfare with their forces across several fronts.

Line Ark.

An anti-establishment group who had dedicated itself to destroying them without mercy. In every single engagement, Line Ark forces had constantly pushed the League into relying on Lynx support to remove them from entrenched positions. Often countering in turn with deployments of Armored Cores piloted by Ravens with experience in fighting those supposed to be hunting them.

It was considered a gross embarrassment that they were leaning on Collard so heavily, a unit that was intended to operate separately from their main forces, hunting down Ravens and on occasion supporting the more difficult encounters.

Instead now there was a clear trend of Line Ark forces putting up significantly stronger resistance than originally anticipated, often holding off entire companies of League infantry and armour several times larger than them.

However, in recent weeks or potentially even over a month, encounters with Line Ark forces had drastically dropped off by nearly 70%. Soldiers, tanks and MTs would roll through previously held regions and population centres with virtual impunity.

While this was an improvement in many regards, there was a sense of unease that came with it. After all, why would Line Ark who had so viciously defended and attacked, suddenly go comparatively silent?

But in the face of such an opportunity, the League chose to improve its public image by holding a festival on behalf of the people. A carnival dedicated to celebrating the successes of Humanity in surviving the many hardships time had thrown at them. Primarily hosted in the League Capital with smaller splinter events taking place at roughly the same time in major population centres across the world.

Confident that their internal security, armed forces and NEXTs under direction from Collard would be able to handle any attempt to interrupt the citywide procession, they enacted their plan to please the population.

It was for this reason, that on a hot midsummer day on a building rooftop Whiplash stood alongside White Glint overlooking a slowly moving parade procession, Alicia in the cockpit sweltering away despite the fully cranked climate control.

"It's been a single hour and I already want to shoot myself. Do they actually need NEXTs overlooking this faux bullshit? I mean who the hell is gonna bomb a goddamn parade. There are far more valuable targets we should be watching."

The channel between them had been left open to provide ease of communication, but also left it vulnerable to being abused by the irritable Alicia.

"This parade is specifically to placate the portions of the Capital population, and in extension also those in surrounding League territories. Disrupting this event would have the potential to create backlash against the League leadership. Not to mention striking a target this deep inside the Capital would be an impressive feat alone, certainly an inspiration for any insurrectionist or Line Ark splinter groups to mount offensives against us."

"Ok but who gives a shit about angry assholes yelling on net forums about how their food costs five credits more than last month? If I were Line Ark, I'd take this opportunity to knock out something valuable, like, I dunno, the foundries in District 12 whose defensive network has been down for the last two weeks?"

"Well aren't we blessed that you aren't Line Ark considering they wouldn't have access to information like that."

"Shut up old man, take your meds with some prune juice."

"Old man? How dare you." He said with a light-hearted tone, "I should remind you who the superior pilot here is."

She was half joking at this. Making sure Sajjan didn't skip his medication was almost her responsibility. Having his lungs fail in the middle of a battle did neither of them any favours considering they relied on each other to stay alive.

He never complained about his condition, but the bloodstains on his pillows and near the head of his sheets were getting worse. The Collard Housing Department was going to start asking questions if they kept being sent bloodstained bedding to wash almost every day.

But she didn't have it in her to tell him to slow down.

As much as he'd never admit it, Sajjan Singh was running out of time.

It was likely more willpower keeping him going these days, the medication held the symptoms at bay but didn't actually do anything to slow the disease down. If he'd gone the traditional route he could have added maybe even another year or so to his life, but he'd never be in a fit state to pilot his AC.

He'd told her that being a pilot was all that mattered because it let him keep looking for the man that meant everything to him. If he didn't find him before that time ran out, she knew exactly how his life would end.

Empty, alone, bled dry and cold on a battlefield somewhere.

He'd seemed so shut off and distant when she first met him, but since then had come to find an almost incomparable warmth in him. Despite what he would tell you, he genuinely cared about everyone.

It was saddening to consider what might have happened to him to cause such a man to deliberately try and push others away from him.

Perhaps this man he so doggedly wanted to find was at the heart of it all. If Sajjan found him, what would happen then? She believed that he really mattered as much as she was told, but Sajjan hadn't actually told her who he was. Not even a name.

All he'd told her was that he was a friend he'd known during GA's War. If Sajjan had been a Raven, did that mean this friend was a Raven too? If they were still alive, then that would technically make them an Original. If that was the case, there was every chance he was one of the many warlords roaming the wastelands between population centres.

Or on a slightly more morbid train of thought, he could have ended up one of the many Ravens under Line Ark that they had trained to kill.

She just had to count that Sajjan would know this guy when he met him. Otherwise there would be an entirely different tragedy to clean up.

"-sh? Whiplash? Hey Alice, you in there?"

Alicia suddenly snapped to, jerking in the seat somewhat as she was pulled back to reality by Sajjan's voice.

"Shit, sorry I spaced out for a moment there."

"I can see that, you call me old man but you can't even focus on the task at hand. You need a nap? Standing around here must be real hard work."

"Oh fuck off."

She said this, but there was a faint smile on her face that stubbornly refused to leave. After all this time, it was almost like having a friend again.

Sajjan started talking again, but this time it wasn't directed at her.

Lynxes usually worked alone or in pairs if need be, but it wasn't like how things used to be before the League and Collard.

There weren't any kindly voices over the com channel passing information to you, trying to keep you alive. Operators were a thing of the past.

If you were out solo or in a pair you pretty much could rely on yourself only. If there were more than three Lynx in a mission area or Lynx teams were integrated into regular forces as part of a combined arms operation, then a temporary 'Handler' would be assigned to each team to make sure no one got in each other's way.

That same kind of person, a Handler, was likely the person that Sajjan had just finished speaking to, now turning his attention to her.

"New orders, we're to cover the next district along, another team is taking our place here."

"What, they think some other pair of losers can do a better job of standing around with their thumbs in their asses? By all means they can be my fucking guest."

"Does being a bratty shit ever get old?"

"Nope."

White Glint shifted out of the corner of Alicia's main display, making her turn Whiplash's headpiece to follow it instinctively. The white AC lifting away from the rooftop in a smooth motion, booster flare kicking away the dust and grit that had come to rest around them over the years.

Alicia lit Whiplash's own boosters, pushing the throttle until the war machine lifted away from its perch, gently guiding it after the flight path that White Glint was setting.

It wouldn't be a long trip, if they'd taken a sharper ascent it would have been more like a very long parabolic jump.

The second they touched down, a series of distant explosions caught Alicia's attention, causing her head to snap in their direction, only to realise she was reacting to a large cluster of fireworks being launched in another district.

"You're a little on edge considering nothing's even happened yet"

Either he saw her flinch, or heard the unconscious breath of relief she gave after realising her mistake, but Sajjan had caught her momentary lapse.

 _Shit_

The last thing she needed was him taking a chance to poke around in her head. There had been several occasions where talk of the past had come up and she had to perform some frankly outrageous logical and conversational acrobatics to avoid any real discussion on the matter.

On the other hand, the thought that perhaps her evasiveness was contributing to Sajjan's curiosity had crossed her mind.

Maybe if she gave him some of the truth, not all of it, but some of it, it might be enough to get him to drop the whole deal. He was actually really bad at the whole, 'I don't care about people' thing.

Mentally digging for something to offer without giving too much away, she chose something vague that had happened a few years back, just before she'd joined Rayleonard's SF team.

"I remember a mission like this one going way south a few years back. It's hard to shake that kind of memory, it gets under your skin."

"'Going way south', care to elaborate?"

"We were supporting proxy forces moving through a hostile population centre. A convoy of APCs loaded with civilians. They paid the Corporation I worked for to have us as additional support. Turns out we weren't enough."

"So, what happened? You obviously survived at least, but what about the proxy forces, those civilians?"

"They didn't make it; two thirds of my battalion was wiped out. They leveled the entire centre after they pulled us out with an hour long thermobaric rocket barrage. Sterilised five square kilometres. Not even bacteria survived."

She finally got a pause out of him, cutting his questioning short for just a moment.

"You worked for Rayleonard then, that's a rough gig if you were their corporate grunt."

"I-"

 _What the fuck?_

How had he managed to hit the nail straight on the head in the first try? Fortunately she didn't have to wait for the answer to come, following a short laugh.

"Rayleonard are the only Corporation with a history of covering their fuck ups with the liberal application of thermobaric weapons. Apparently Victor Rayleonard liked to make trips to previously hit sites just to admire how his influence could turn everything in sight into ash and glass."

"Jesus fucking christ. I'm glad I don't have to work for that scum anymore. He can rot along with the sick legacy of Rayleonard."

"I was able to gain access to a lot of their records by calling in favours shortly after the League was formed. What with the Corporation being defunct, no one seemed to care much by that point. Turns out Victor and his pet research division AkvaVit had been up to all sorts of shit without telling anyone. Not that they had any obligation to.

Radiological accidents never disclosed, regular abuses of their internal workforce, rampant human rights violations, torture, war crimes, indiscriminate massacres. You name it, they probably committed it at some point in their history. So long as their actions didn't interfere with the operation of the other Corporation's business or that of the Raven's Ark, everyone was willing to turn a blind eye or at least never bother digging too deep.

The moment they claimed the position of leading Corporation, they ran with it. Nothing would get between Victor Rayleonard and absolute power. Hell, I even found early drafts of plans to begin operations against the other Corporations with their Ninebreaker as the spearhead. But before those plans ever left the earliest stages of development, the collaborative effort between the Corporations against the Raven's Ark was suggested. The rest is history as we know it."

"They were going to use Berlioz to take out the other Corporations? Did they think he was invincible or something?"

"Oh? An old fan perhaps?"

 _Fuck fuck fuck_

"Calling me a fan would be… A bit much. He's just well known; after all it wasn't that long ago that he was still alive."

"True, but the League has gone to great lengths to try and make people forget. They don't want anyone using his memory as a symbol of resistance against the Corporations. Afterall, he almost single handedly held off the force that brought the Ark down."

"Did he? Sounds like he went down fighting, not a bad way to go."

Alicia was lying through her teeth by this point but putting distance between herself and Berlioz was paramount. If the League caught wind of her deception, let alone her relation to the former Ninebreaker, execution at best would be a godsend.

"Would have been better for us all if he'd made it, but things don't always pan out for us. I guess sometimes, life just likes to fuck you up to remind you that you're alive." Said Sajjan, wistfully.

"Yeah, tell me about it. If life could ease up on the reminders, that'd be stellar thanks."

"Aww, don't be like that. We've had plenty of fun together. So many fond memories if you ignore all of the killing."

"The fact that killing is the prevailing theme of our time together says an awful fucking lot about us."

"Would you rather it spen-"

It was in that specific moment, that a portable anti-tank missile flew from inside a building down onto the parade below them, blowing the lead float to pieces along with the people riding it.

Alicia had a single second to stand in shock, staring down at the blossoming cloud of fire and black smoke, before her FCS lit up with dozens of incoming fire trajectories. From more windows along their street, automatic rifles lashed out in streams of tracers at both the panicking crowds below and also at the two of them. Tiny machine gun rounds barely causing scratches on their armour despite the volume of fire.

Sajjan was already yelling for orders from their Handler as well as requesting support. The inescapable crux of their problem was that NEXTs weren't exactly designed for combat in densely populated areas. Urban combat wasn't a problem, but not trashing the place and killing civilians just by moving around was nearly impossible. They hadn't even been allowed to activate their PA fields as it would fatally irradiate the crowds they were supposed to be protecting in seconds.

"White Glint! What the fuck do they want us to do? We'll kill half of the civilians here if we return fire!"

Alicia twisted to the side as a shoulder launched anti-tank missile screamed past her. If nothing was done soon, everyone they were trying to keep safe would be dead anyway.

"White Glint?! Come on, make the call!"

From what she could hear the person on the other end of the call to their credit was trying to work through about 32 layers of red tape allowing them to engage without restriction.

As it turned out, the League had been utterly confident that nothing would happen and hadn't actually the necessary bureaucratic measures in using Collard Lynxes under the impression that their presence alone would be enough to deter any attack.

Obviously that wasn't the case now.

Looking down, she watched a family disappear beneath a hail of fire, the dust kicked up obscuring the aftermath.

 _Fuck this._

Sajjan clearly had enough of talking, hearing the sound of what was most likely his headset being thrown in frustration.

"If we do nothing, then they all die. If we can save half, I'll take that over nothing! Whiplash, we are weapons free, destroy them all!"

"With pleasure!"

Alicia leveled both rifle and handgun at the opposite building, targeting the floor with the most muzzle flashes, the two reticules turning red almost immediately.

Squeezing both triggers with relish, she let the familiar sensation of simulated recoil rock her arms, the outstretched limbs compensating for the kick back like it was as natural as breathing.

Explosions ripped the side of the building apart like it was paper. Smoothly sweeping each arm along the floor's length, the floor above and below was destroyed along with the one she had specifically attacked. Several additional enemy positions were silenced by this overspill of firepower.

White Glint had moved down the street to another cluster of ambushing gunmen, destroying them with characteristic precision.

While in the process of preparing to leap down to the street level, what Alicia only had time to vaguely identify as an autocannon opened up on her, shredding the not exactly sturdy footing that supported her NEXT.

Alicia managed to keep Whiplash upright, but the edge of the rooftop crumbled, her NEXT slipping down the side of the building like a makeshift concrete slide until she crashed onto the sidewalk that was thankfully now clear of people.

Following the suggestion of Whiplash's FCS, she looked right down the street where the ruins of the parade were scattered about, smoldering floats and mechanical mascots flayed of their colourful furs. Or at least that is what she had wished she only saw.

Along with the chaos of the failed parade, a pair of modified GBN-02 MTs pushed their way through the floats.

Modified was perhaps being generous. It was more that they had most of their armour plating stripped away to cut weight and size down. Just behind them was what looked like a parked cargo truck with it's storage unit split open rather deliberately down the middle like a clam shell.

A contemporary trojan horse. Oldest trick in the book and the League fell for it like it was a brand new idea.

Even from her slumped position against the building side that she slid down, it wasn't too much trouble to aim at the MTs with her right hand rifle, lining the sight over the closest one before firing off a short burst.

The removal of its armour was of no real benefit or detriment to the Gibbon's performance in the end. The high-power rounds from Alicia's NEXT ripped through it like tin foil, obliterating both the cockpit and the generator behind it.

Crumpling into a heap, its companion strode forwards with no regard for the fallen comrade it shoved aside, the twin barreled machine gun integrated into its right arm began blazing away, tearing everything around Alicia into pieces. Chewing up the asphalt and concrete she was half buried in, it wasn't able to get a good bead on her position.

However, all it took was a slight adjustment to her aim and the reticule for her rifle lined up with the centre of the second MT. The short burst of rifle fire virtually cut it in half, leaving it as a pile of twisted metal and leaking hydraulic fluid.

With a little effort, Alicia pried Whiplash from the nook it had worked itself into, finally standing on its two feet.

The fall had battered the back of the AC's core and legs, not enough to even dent the armour plating, but the more fragile parts like vents and booster nozzles were battered and beaten somewhat. The worrying thought of them failing mid flight was in the back of her head, trying to drown out the even more concerning idea of the boosters outright exploding from the damage they sustained.

White Glint had vanished by this point and wasn't responding to any of her com requests. Fairly certain that he hadn't died at the hand of some lowly MT, she sent a request to the Handler herself, looking to get direct information as to what the hell was actually going on.

Thankfully, despite her impression that the current chaos might have cut her off, the Handler answered almost immediately.

"This is Whiplash, I've been separated from my partner. I have engaged and destroyed two hostile MTs and multiple infantry teams firing on civilians. What is the situation and what are my orders?"

"Lynx, the situation is fucked. We've got outbreaks of attack reports across your district and the ones adjacent. Local enforcement on the ground is working to evacuate asap but until then your orders are to hunt and destroy any enemy you encounter. I will inform White Glint that you are still active and to meet up with you."

Alicia wasn't given a chance to accept or deny, the channel being cut the moment the Handler had finished speaking. She didn't dwell on it, treatment like this was usual.

 _Hunt and destroy? I can do that._

After cautiously flaring Whiplash's boosters to ensure they wouldn't inadvertently kill her, she maxed the throttle and lifted herself onto a nearby rooftop to survey the area.

The Handler wasn't kidding, smoke was already rising from several locations around her, stray tracers and the odd rocket or missile could be seen streaking through the air near these points as well.

Alicia picked the nearest pillar of smoke, leaping from rooftop to rooftop with the assistance of Whiplash's boosters. She could hear the sound of MT machine gun fire and missile impacts from where she was already, meaning that the fighting was likely intense at this location. That wasn't really of any concern to her in a NEXT though.

Planning on using the element of surprise, she pushed herself into the air, letting Whiplash hang for just a moment, before plummeting down slightly faster than normal, crashing down into the street, cratering the road and shattering asphalt.

She had aimed perfectly, landing behind a pair of stripped down Gibbons just like the ones she'd taken out moments before. Aiming her rifle at one and her handgun at the other, just a handful of rounds pumped into each one was enough to bring them down.

However Alicia was rocked slightly, a caution popping up on a secondary monitor indicating that her rear armour had taken a non-penetrating hit.

Turning around to see who had the nerve to try and attack her back, she saw a soldier down on one knee, looking at her in disbelief with a smoking anti-tank missile launcher slipping off his shoulder.

She couldn't help but grin, switching from her rifle to the back mounted missile launcher, she didn't even bother to lock a specific target, just letting a swarm of dumb missiles streak away trailing white smoke like overpriced rockets. She saturated the area with explosives, blowing infantry and light armor away as if they were leaves on the breeze.

As it turned out, there weren't any soldiers hiding in the windows of buildings on this street, meaning that what she had just taken out was all that was here.

In the span of barely 10 minutes she wiped out a second and third ambush group. Her hunting eventually led her to run into White Glint who had independently been doing exactly the same as her.

Alicia attempted to contact White Glint again, sending the com request the moment she saw him. This time, it was accepted.

"Nice to finally get ahold of you, as much as I'm not gonna complain about rinsing this place clean of enemies, I wouldn't mind some clarification as to what the fuck is going on?" She said with a hint of annoyance.

"From the sounds of things, it's Line Ark's doing. They've had groups of infantry and MTs moved into the Capital via shipments with falsified details. Likely inside agents we haven't found yet leaking our security codes and methods to allow them to get in."

"Well that's just fucking excellent. What's the plan then?"

"I haven't been given any new orders since that brief rundown, we need to get a better idea of how bad this situation is if they won't tell us."

While Alicia had managed to get a vague picture of what was going on in her local area, having a clear view on a more strategic scale would let them decide on the next best course of action.

"The Capital's inner wall then. We'll be able to see every affected district from there and move to counter Line Ark's advances."

Sajjan was quiet for a moment while he considered her suggestion.

"That's probably the best option we've got. Let's get to it before they get around to killing any more civilians."

With that, they both kicked off from the ground, boosters roaring as they moved inwards, towards the heart of the Capital.

While they weren't exactly flying high, to avoid drawing the attention of any potential anti-aircraft threats Line Ark might have brought, they could see that the Capital's Internal Security Service was out in full force finally.

Armoured personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles rolled out in teams backed up by militarized police in full body armour. Even the ISS' handful of MTs had been deployed. Their MTs were repainted TYPE-DULAKEs, meaning they would have outclassed the Line Ark GBN-02s even if they hadn't been stripped of their armour.

The ISS' only problem was that besides their TYPE-DULAKEs, they had extremely limited mobility. They had to travel street by street, through rubble, pockets of citizens still making their way to the gates deeper in the city. Effective as they might be, if they couldn't catch up to the much more mobile Line Ark forces, they'd never make a difference.

Aside from a stray burst of machine gun fire from a street they passed over, the two of them made it to the inner wall without much incident.

The wall itself was around 35m high, with watch stations at regular intervals as well as automated defenses like anti-aircraft missile launchers and ballistic missile interceptors. While the League's obsession with security was at times more than a hinderance to the daily lives of the Capital's citizens, it was now that Alicia and Sajjan could take advantage of the massive wall to look down on the nearby districts.

What they saw wasn't exactly inspiring.

It was worse than Alicia had realised from the low rooftop she had used previously. Dozens upon dozens of fire fights had broken out across three different districts, effectively plunging around a fifth of the entire city into chaos.

"Well," muttered Sajjan, "This is a mess."

"It looks like fighting on the two adjacent districts is dying down somewhat, but the central one we just left is still very much a giant ongoing clusterfuck."

"Do you th-"

Alicia cut him off, "Wait, what the fuck are those? Heading 078, coming in at around… I'd guess maybe 1.5km altitude, inside the outer wall."

She was focusing her optics on the mysterious cluster of objects floating on the horizon but Sajjan beat her to the punch.

"Infantry dropships, about 6, maybe 7 of them. There's a general purpose transporter with them as well."

"Well that's gonna be a pain but nothing we can't handle. Transporter is probably just carrying logistical supplies for the forces still here."

"That's in the best case scenario," said Sajjan, a hint of concern in his voice, "worst case they're forgoing a sustainable assault and going for pure firepower. That transporter can carry up several BMH-11s or 3 ACs. You wanna brush that thing off when it could result in a handful of Ravens running loose then please, be my guest."

"Uuugggh goddamn it fine, we'll advance on the aerial group and take them out before moving on to mop up whatever the ISS leaves for us."

Sajjan didn't reply, instead beginning to talk to the Handler, asking for reinforcements to suppress the aerial group before they moved on them.

Considering their PA was still forbidden, the weapons on a dropship could cause problems if it got a lucky bead on one of them. Neither of them wanted the embarrassment of potentially being put out of the fight by a measly dropship.

However, it was exactly at that point that _something_ very obviously fell out of the back of the transporter.

"Ahhh fuck! White Glint, the transporter just dropped its payload!"

"What!? Handler, the transporter already dropped, we're gonna head in now and meet up with Scylla and the MTs with her!"

Sajjan dropped the line with the Handler rather unceremoniously before turning his attention to Alicia.

"Whiplash, we're up!"

Not even giving her time to answer, in a similar fashion to how he dealt with the Handler, he launched himself off the wall, boosters firing at full power.

She followed him, pushing Whiplash's throttle to maximum and kicking away from the wall. The aerial group had already completely dispersed, most of the dropships weren't even visible now and the transporter was banking hard to one side, apparently disengaging.

Obviously that whole group's objective had been to drop whatever cargo that transporter had held. If it was that important to need dedicated escort, Sajjan's fears of Behemoths or even ACs was entirely possible.

Both of those outcomes left any deployed Lynx as the only element able to engage and destroy targets of that calibre. The ISS didn't have assets or ordinance heavy enough to deal with threats like that. If they tried, delaying them would be the best case, being absolutely obliterated was the only other ending.

They were meeting up with another Lynx to maximise their chances of success in either case of it being heavy MTs or ACs. Having been denied usage of their PA still, the playing field became a lot more balanced than she liked. While NEXT's did outperform ACs, that was a fact, Ravens were often just as skilled as their Lynx counterparts. PA was the big difference between the two, providing a layer of protection that compensated for the close level of skill between pilots and boosted the improvements of their NEXTs.

Alicia and Sajjan's target was a large plaza only a few hundred metres from the suspected drop point. The Lynx they were meeting with, Scylla, was already there with around 6 MTs from the ISS that had converged there.

Alicia hadn't actually spoken to her that much, she was just a familiar face with a NEXT name that stood out, even if the person herself was fairly ordinary. Her NEXT made use of a Rosenthal TYPE-LANCEL frame like her own, but using twin machine guns as well as dual missile launchers.

While none of them were packing particularly heavy firepower, the three of them together should be able to handle whatever that transporter had dropped off.

The plaza was coming up just ahead, Alicia could see Scylla standing with the MTs waiting for them.

Several craters surrounded them, the previously elaborate floor art of the plaza having been blown apart. The statue that once stood at the centre on a raised platform was little more than a pile of rubble now.

Alicia had no love for this city, but to some it was all they had. Seeing it destroyed made even her heart ache.

White Glint and Whiplash touched down, moving at a walking pace to Scylla's position. The MTs parted before them, giving them space to face the pale grey NEXT.

Sajjan patched her into their com channel, the chipper voice filling Alicia's cockpit to the point where she turned the volume down. Some people just have _that_ kind of voice.

"Hey guys! Ready for a good hunt?"

Alicia wanted to audibly sigh but Sajjan's rapid fire reply cut her off.

"This is no ordinary hunt for a Raven, we don't know what is out there and it's just as likely it's hunting us. Just don't become prey and we'll be fine."

"Oho, as expected of the Original. Straight to business as usual!"

A stray thought passed through Alicia's mind considering muting Scylla, but at the end of the day, she could end up counting on this infuriatingly chipper Lynx.

"Ok you two, let's pack it in and get a move on. There's probably a Raven out there just waiting for the chance to be killed by us."

As she said this, an unknown signal popped up on her radar just for a moment. Around 50m ahead of her, putting it almost on top of Scylla.

"Wh-"

She didn't even have time to ask Sajjan what the signal was, because the answer came a split second later.

A deep crimson and black NEXT dropped out of the sky, landing behind Scylla. Alicia couldn't see what was in it's hands, but the right arm was lined up with the back of Scylla's core.

There was no time to shout a warning, no time to even begin moving towards her, the boom of what sounded like a cannon firing from behind Scylla's NEXT ringing out.

What followed stunned everyone to the point of motionlessness.

A thick metal spike punched through Scylla's NEXT from front to back, sticking out a good extra metre from the front of it's core. Her connection to White Glint and Alicia was cut with barely the hint of a scream.

The spike's tip was stained red; dripping with a mixture of the pilot's insides and hydraulic fluid.

Almost gracefully, the spike was pulled back through Scylla, the NEXT collapsing in a heap in front of this enemy who had eliminated one of them before a single shot had been fired.

Dragging her eyes away from the lifeless pile of metal, Alicia now had a good line of sight on their attacker.

As a NEXT with a TYPE-LAHIRE head, TYPE-LANCEL arms and core with 063AN04 legs, it looked frankly bizarre to her. She'd never seen a mixed frame NEXT before.

It held a Rayleonard machine gun in it's left hand with another visibly mounted to the back of it's waist, ready to be used when the right hand was free. A pair of Leonemeccanica AS missile launchers sat on its back mounts along with more AS launchers on the shoulders.

On the right hand wrist mount was a large blocky mechanism that was currently retracting the long metal spike that had eviscerated scylla in a single blow. What looked like a short magazine of shell cartridges stuck out of the side near the rear of the device and when the spike finished it's retraction, a spent casing was spat out, a new one taking its place presumably.

A pile bunker. A crude weapon that used explosive charges to propel a captive projectile, usually a hardened spike, at supersonic speed for just a tiny distance, punching through even the toughest armour. It's greatest advantage was that it was cheaper than a laser blade and could ignore the PA of Collard NEXTs.

It was at that moment that Sajjan finally started functioning again as his voice rang out through the cockpit, "Everyone get away from him! Now!"

The six MTs reacted sluggishly, like they were still processing what had happened.

Alicia wasn't surprised, they had just watched a Lynx, a thing presumed to be almost invincible on the battlefield eliminated with one shot right before their very eyes. If that didn't shake your perspective on the balance of power, nothing would.

She responded as well, throwing Whiplash backwards following White Glint, but the MTs slow reaction led to their immediate destruction.

The first had barely moved by the time the enemy NEXT was on top of it, pile bunker primed, fist lined up with it's core. This time everyone got to see in detail what it did.

Another small bang and the spike flashed out faster than her eye could register, ripping into the MT, skewering it like a metal kebab. The NEXT swung its arm, using the impaled MT like a club, smashing it loose against another of their allies, crushing it.

While White Glint continued to climb, flying backwards towards the buildings that lined the plaza, Alicia cut her throttle, touching down and raising her weapons.

Sajjan could do what he pleased, but letting this NEXT continue to operate was not going to happen on her watch.

The reticules turned red after just a moment, tracking the enemy that was now using its left hand machine gun to cut down an MT that had managed to move just outside the immediate range of the pile bunker.

She let fly with a hail of rounds from both weapons, not specifically aiming to hit any part of it, but more to get its attention and draw it away from the MTs it was slaughtering with no resistance.

But the moment she fired, she realised she should have known better, she should have thought harder about what kind of target she was engaging. She knew that she should have paid more attention to the slight, almost imperceptible haze around the NEXT.

Her rounds never landed on the target. Each one slammed into a familiar, shimmering amber and gold sphere of charged glowing Kojima Particles.

Of course, it was a NEXT, why wouldn't it have Primal Armour?

But before she could reconsider her strategy and at exactly the same moment as the NEXT paused and with an almost deliberate disinterest turned to face her, Sajjan shouted at her through the com channel.

"No! Stop! Don't attack him, don't hurt him Alice!"

 _What?_

Putting the use of her name aside, why the hell was he telling her to stop attacking him? Was he not watching this NEXT rip its way through their allies?

White Glint flew over her head, dropping between her and the crimson NEXT; back to her and its arms outstretched slightly.

"It's him, it's got to be him. I'd recognise that colour scheme and weapon choice anywhere. It's Havok, the leader of Line Ark."

"What?! You're kidding? That's Havok? Why the fuck does he have a NEXT? No, why is he even here? Shouldn't he be, you know, giving orders and shit from the rear?"

"He has a NEXT because Line Ark goes out of its way to steal parts whenever possible. He's here because obviously this attack means a lot to them. It explains why their activity has been so low recently. They were consolidating their forces for today."

No wonder they were fighting so hard to maintain a foothold. If they had committed so much of their military might to this attack then it would be some time before a second offensive could be mounted. By then the Capital would likely be even more heavily protected as well.

None of that mattered right now though, because all of her attention had to be focused on the threat before her.

"So what, why don't you want me attacking him? He's the fucking enemy, the reason so many are dead today!"

"Because I want him to surrender, I need him to come in willingly. Worse case I at least want him alive. You can not, I repeat, can not kill him. Do you understand?"

Alicia's instincts screamed in defiance of such an order having watched the crimson machine rip through four of their allies, but she stayed her hand for the time being, allowing Sajjan to open a com channel with Havok.

"Havok, I want to make this easy, disengage and power down your NEXT. Surrender peacefully, please."

To her surprise, Havok's voice was surprisingly normal. She had almost wished that he'd sounded like a stereotypical villain to make fighting him easier.

"You think I'd go through all this trouble getting here, surviving for months upon months, just to crawl on hands and knees at your feet and give up? I will die before the thought ever crosses my mind."

"A pity. I wanted to be civilised about this."

"There's nothing civil about a dog who kills on command."

Sajjan apparently stopped speaking to Havok, leaving the channel open though, and spoke to the Handler.

"We have encountered a Line Ark NEXT, pilot is confirmed to be the Line Ark leader Havok. Requesting permission to use Primal Armour during engagement."

"White Glint, you are cleared to use Primal Armour, but I'm obligated to let you know that the League isn't willing to risk him escaping alive. If you can't disable or kill him in 15 minutes, they are condemning that entire district and will be using an indirect barrage of thermobaric weapons to cleanse the area."

The blood in Alicia's veins turned cold at the thought of still being here when those weapons were fired. She knew exactly what they'd do to her and everything around her.

"Understood, engaging the target. Alicia, you're cleared to use your PA. Bring him down but keep him alive."

"Copy that!"

On Sajjan's word she twisted a small handle on a panel to her side, the Kojima module behind her spooling up with it's distinctive whine as it began to pump out particles. She then threw Whiplash to the side, firing on Havok as White Glint went high, also engaging, trying to whittle the enemy's PA down while theirs charged.

Havok didn't wait to strike back, launching off a salvo of AS missiles at both of them before restarting his rampage through the MTs that had been standing by on White Glint's orders.

Alicia maneuvered around the missiles, moving to a nearby rooftop on the buildings that lined the plaza. The allied MTs barely lasted more than 20 seconds, but they bought the valuable time needed to let her and Sajjan's PA fields charge up. Alicia shoved the handle she had twisted earlier inwards until it connected and an electrical charge shot through the dispersed particles, molding them into a protective sphere.

On the edge of her main display, she saw the same sphere flash into life around White Glint. Havok had only managed to take out another two MTs, the surviving pair having backed off far enough to engage properly.

The crimson NEXT slalomed backwards, weaving left and right before it slid down a side street outside the plaza, escaping their withering hail of fire from 3 different positions.

He didn't give them a chance to pursue him, flying up and over a building top a few dozen metres down, firing off another barrage of missiles at the remaining MTs, their frames vanishing in overlapping balls of fire and debris.

Alicia had to learn the hard way and come to accept a long time ago that if someone is meant to die, there is nothing you can do to prevent it, you can only delay it moment by moment. Clearly that was the case for the MT squad, the entirety of which now lay in various states of destruction, strewn across the ruined plaza.

You can't save the damned.

But, you can sure as hell make the scum that took their lives pay.

Bracing herself, Alicia hit the prominent red button on her right hand control, the short, growling whine behind her was the indicator that Whiplash's Over Boost was dumping unfiltered power and fuel from the dedicated capacitors into the ignition chamber.

A second later she was slammed into the back of her seat as the OB unit blasted her NEXT forwards, propelling her like a cannonball towards Havok who had just landed on the opposite rooftop.

She cut the booster around three quarters of the way across, letting momentum carry her while she began firing mid-flight.

There was a moment when she wondered why Havok didn't evade her fire, simply letting her wear down his already fluctuating PA field. That was until the very moment that Whiplash touched down, Havok lit its own OB for a split second, appearing to almost teleport in front of her.

Its right arm was drawn back, ready to punch out and fire the pile bunker which was setup to impale her straight through the core. If she continued her current plan of attack, she'd never be able to deal enough damage to stop him before he killed her. Having seen what that pile bunker could do, she didn't want to take a single risk involving it.

The first idea that came to mind was the only one she had time to consider and enact in the momentary pause.

Alicia fired Whiplash's side thrusters at maximum output while twisting the NEXT to the side. At the same time, she heard the now familiar bang of the pile driver firing. The fact that a metal spike wasn't currently obliterating her was good news, but the sound of metal rending asunder still rang out.

While she had succeeded in both depleting Havok's PA and avoided being killed, there hadn't been quite enough time to dodge the pile bunker completely. After completing the twist and coming to a standstill, Alicia quickly looked over the NEXT readout on a second monitor which was beginning to fill with a concerning number of yellow cautions and red warnings.

According to the monitor, several of Whiplash's joints were beginning to fail, the strain of her aggressive movements putting too much stress on its limbs causing them to break down. The largest area covered in numerous warning boxes was her right arm, or specifically the forearm down.

Lifting the limb up so her optics could see it, she no longer needed the monitor to figure out the problem.

From roughly the middle of Whiplash's right forearm, there simply wasn't anything there anymore. The arm and hand had been utterly destroyed and the rifle it had previously held was nowhere to be seen, having presumably been propelled over the edge of the rooftop during Havok's attack.

The crimson NEXT had by now recovered from its somewhat failed attack, turning to face her and advancing on her, striding forwards with the spike of its pile bunker fully retracted, ready to strike again.

Alicia couldn't afford to underestimate this NEXT's speed and the pilot's skill. She had lost maybe 30% or 40% of her overall mobility meaning that combat maneuvers were out of the question now. If she got into another position like that again, she'd end up permanently trashing Whiplash and leaving herself open to attack.

Pushing the throttle, she kicked away from the rooftop, aiming to disengage from close-quarters combat so she could provide long-range support with her missile launcher.

What she wasn't counting on was the janky response of Whiplash's knees, bending improperly and audibly complaining at the motion. This delayed the motion for a critical second.

Havok literally leapt at the opportunity, lashing out with the pile bunker again, this time the weapon connecting just below the knee in Whiplash's left leg, punching through the limb from front to back.

Ripping the metal spike sideways, the lower half of the NEXT's left leg broke away under its own weight.

Being in mid air, boosters firing and attempting to flee a target, losing a significant amount of mass asymmetrically was a catastrophe waiting to happen and happen it did. Alicia lost control of Whiplash, the sluggish input to the damaged joints combined with the off-centre weight and thrust caused her to drift and roll in the air crashing into the rooftop hard enough to plow right through it. She dropped through several floors before smashing out of the building's side, coming to a rest in a crater caused by her impact with the plaza surface.

There was no denying it now, Alicia was out of the fight.

She wasn't hurt. Not badly at any rate, the crash had bashed her around a little but the seat harness and reinforced jumpsuit thankfully saved her from more severe injuries. But escaping from Havok was no longer a possibility. She could leave the NEXT sure, but she'd never survive the now rapidly increasing density of Kojima Particles in the air.

Her main generator was surprisingly still active and her head optics still functioned. She'd lost her missile launcher and radar in the crash but her left hand still tightly clung onto its handgun.

Havok leapt down from the rooftops, landing without thrusters, shattering the ground where he landed. The NEXT's right hand opened and clenched like it was warming up for the final blow.

Alicia shifted Whiplash to the best of her ability, lining up the handgun with Havok, but there was no reticule. A cursory glance at the NEXT status screen pointed out the issue amongst the chaos of the dozens of warnings. Whiplash's FCS had malfunctioned and the small laser that would have provided a backup reticule had been damaged, meaning she had literally no way of aiming properly.

In this situation, it wasn't exactly something she was going to hold back for.

Alicia leveled the gun and fired again and again, shell casings flying into the air and falling back down around her. The rounds dented and battered Havok but none of them were able to punch through its armour plating.

Even with certain death literally bearing down on her, there was no way she was going to give up. She did not come this far to die here.

Driving the broken arm into the plaza's surface and shakily pushing with the remaining arm, Alicia managed to get Whiplash moving again, if only barely.

She hadn't even run the handgun's magazine dry by the time Havok caught up with her, using one machine gun to violently smash it out of her hand before driving the other into Whiplash's right leg, pinning her in place.

Punching out with her now free hand she managed to slightly buckle Havok's right knee joint before he crushed the limb under his foot.

For the first time since the battle started, Havok spoke to her directly.

"Any last words League dog?"

"Fuck you!"

"What did I expect."

He leveled the machine gun that wasn't embedded in her leg at her core. She wanted to rage, struggle, lash out against the outcome she was staring into the face of. Alicia wouldn't give in, not even now.

She didn't flinch when the gunfire started, but instead was confused when she noticed that Havok hadn't started firing yet.

Instead a series of shells slammed into Havok's right hand side, ripping the arm and shoulder apart under the volley of rounds.

The crimson NEXT backed off, boosters flaring, leaving behind one of its machine guns and it returned fire with one machine gun and a missile barrage at its unseen assailant.

A deep voice over the com channel identified them.

"Your fight here is with me Havok, leave her out of this!"

"You think I'm going to ignore someone trying to stop me?"

Now out of immediate danger, a sudden realisation hit Alicia. She glanced at a secondary monitor, a recently forgotten fear rushing back.

"Sa- White Glint, we have 3 minutes until we all die, bring him down now or let's get the hell out of here!"

"The League won't let us off lightly if he escapes…" Now in view, White Glint flexed slightly, as if loosening its joints.

Then, very quietly, as if talking to himself he muttered, "This is going to hurt."

Before she could question what he meant by that, true to its name, White Glint shot towards Havok in a flash, kicking the NEXT in the chest to slow down while pointing both rifles at it.

But Havok rolled with the hit, allowing it to twist him round before completing the 360 degree turn, firing on White Glint the moment he was facing it again.

The two of them moved at a lighting pace, weaving around each other, flaying the ground and walls with unstoppable storm of shells, scattering concrete, rubble and decorative marble from the plaza surface around them.

In the near on year and a half that Alicia had seen Sajjan fight, she had never seen him move like this before. It was violent, aggressive and in its own way, beautiful. The two of them moved with the grace dancers performing a routine that only the two of them knew. Like they had practiced for months and months to perfect the ultimate performance.

Maybe someday she could fight like that, to move with such elegance, but for now, she could only marvel at the display of such utter power.

However, like all dances, they must eventually end.

The pair suddenly broke apart, Havok burst out of the dust cloud that had followed them, smoke and fire streaming like blood from wounds. White Glint was considerably better off, having gone in with its PA at nearly full strength had paid off.

The crimson NEXT ploughed into the chewed up plaza, it's momentum carrying it on its back up to the buildings along the side. There it came to rest, immobile. Alicia could see that the knee on its right leg had completely buckled, leading her to hope that her desperate punch earlier had perhaps contributed to his fall.

Loud, violent retching caught her attention, the horrific noise coming from Sajjan's com channel.

It looked like he was paying for his performance. What she saw was probably Sajjan close to, if not perhaps at his prime. Lighting fast, near impossible to follow, utterly unstoppable. But his body just couldn't handle it anymore. The disease infesting his body was robbing him of his talent, skill and life. This was the extent of it now, who knew how many more times he could push himself to the breaking point in pursuit of the man he sought? The more time he spent fighting, the faster he'd be killing himself.

Once the noise stopped, Sajjan coughed a little before speaking.

"He's alive, I made sure of it. Handler, this is White Glint. Havok has been disabled, I repeat, Havok has been disabled. Cancel the cleansing strike, we're bringing him in alive."

Very slowly, as if the machine was injured itself, White Glint moved forwards towards the ruined NEXT before pointing its right hand rifle at the core.

"Come out of the cockpit Havok. It's over. You lost."


	7. Act 1: Ch 6: Salt in the Wounds

A/N: Got this out faster than expected! I'm probably gonna be aiming for 2k+ words on flashback/non-critical chapters to save me from having to pad them out but I'll keep a minimum of 3k+ for the important stuff. With this, Act 1 comes to a close, I hope everyone is enjoying and I appreciate everyone that reads and everyone that has left a review of any kind! Feedback is golden for people like me that write niche stuff like this! We really really appreciate it! The wait for the next chapter might be a little longer as it's gonna be a dialogue heavy piece that I wanna get right and I'm also busy a lot of this week so hang in there if it's not up super speedy like! Again, I hope you're enjoying and look forward to the beginning of Act 2 in the near future!

League Capital, Rosenthal Local Branch

20:15

07/07/2114

From the moment he returned from the mission and received summons to the local Rosenthal branch, Gerald Gendlin knew that he was in for yet another lecture on how he was letting the Corporation down.

Of course from the public's point of view, the Corporation he actually worked for and carried the logo of was Rosenthal, but the public had never been made aware of the fact that the Corporation was a hollow, carved out shell of its former self.

After the GA controlled Orion strike on Rosenthal's HQ which resulted in the destruction of the complex and the death of virtually their entire leadership, Omer Science Technology, a subsidiary Corporation took control of Rosenthal's assets.

They wasted absolutely no time at all in carving the entire business up, integrating the parts they wanted, dissolving the parts they didn't and selling the parts that were worth more as liquid capital.

Within a month, Omer's claws were irreversibly dug into what was left of Rosenthal. Like a parasite they took over every aspect of it, running its factories, organising its people, commanding its armies.

Omer went from being an arguably forgettable subsidiary to being one of the most powerful organisations in the world and everyone besides the very highest levels of the League's board members were aware.

What the Corporation was perhaps unaware of, was that the AC of the previous S-Rank 2 Raven was recovered. Despite needing moderate repair work, they had come into possession of an icon. The Armored Core Noblesse Oblige was still remembered by many, especially those in the Rosenthal territories. Seeking to use Noblesse as a symbol for the League, all they needed to do was secure a pilot.

Unfortunately for them, the original pilot had died during the GA War, having been killed by the rogue Raven Maximilian Thermidor. But after doing a little digging through the corporate census files, they found the next best thing.

Him.

Buried to try and prevent his identity being stumbled across, there was a clear genetic link between Leonhardt Rosenthal and himself. Their parent, Alex Rosenthal. Having had a drunken one night stand during the celebratory period of their ascension to the position of CEO, they had unknowingly sired a child until said child was brought forward a few years later.

Supporting Gerald and his mother in secret, he was raised unaware of his heritage, living a quiet, uneventful and modest life. That was until Omer officials came knocking on his door, opening his eyes to the truth.

He had value to them as the bastard half-brother of Leonhardt Rosenthal. With a legitimate blood relative in the cockpit of Noblesse Oblige they could push the combination as a show of the League's superiority, further silencing any dissent against them.

In the long run, it worked. For the most part.

There was a factor that Omer had just assumed on, something they had taken as a given that had come back to bite them from the very first mission he was sent on.

Gerald had absolutely no aptitude for piloting.

Unlike his much lauded older half-brother, he utterly failed almost every single deployment, having to be bailed out by other Lynx or local forces. It had gotten to the point where they simply accepted that he was going to need assistance and had it on standby, ready to go the moment things got out of hand, which happened fairly quickly.

Normally, he would probably have been dropped by Collard and by extension the League at the first sign of difficulty, but in their haste to acquire him and advertise said acquisition, they lost the ability to dismiss him for fear of denting their blemish free image.

The massive amount of weight they had placed on his success fell on them tenfold when their plan crumbled due to his ineptitude. They had placed a chain around their own neck. One they couldn't remove.

Honestly, he couldn't care less about supporting the League or doing well in the Collard rankings. Hell, the Collard ranking didn't even apply to him because he would rank as No.1 no matter his performance. The League couldn't have their shining star seen as anything less than flawless.

No what got to him the most was the constant, unrelenting comparisons to his dead half-brother.

It never ended. Someone, somewhere at any time was ready to remind him of how Leonhardt would have done it, or how he wouldn't have messed up in this way, or this or that. None of it mattered to Gerald. He'd never even met the man. He was just a name with a list of impossible achievements that was constantly shoved into his face.

If the League and Collard had managed to achieve anything with their actions, it was to drive him to resent a man he didn't know. To burden him with a seething hatred for someone that equally never knew he existed.

In his slowly building self-induced rage, Gerald had managed to make his way from the Collard Hangar to the Rosenthal branch that was situated in this population centre.

It didn't exactly stand out, the only major defining feature was the large symbol of the Rosenthal Corporation mounted to the building's exterior, the large multi-pane glass front stretched up the entire front, merging seamlessly with the aesthetic of the adjacent structures forming a uniform wall of chrome framework and glass sheets.

Sterile and indifferent.

Well if his experience with the Corporations, throughout virtually his entire life, was anything to go by, that was just how they liked things.

He had barely taken a single step inside when someone was already approaching him to take his coat.

Gerald regularly wore a large, heavy, hooded overcoat to disguise himself when moving around in public. It was easier than having the masses that knew his face openly praising him for accomplishments he never actually achieved.

"Good Evening Mr. Gendlin, Mr. Nazari is waiting for you in his office."

The man called Mr. Nazari was the senior management officer of this region. Normally he wouldn't actually be present, preferring to work from the more luxurious comforts of the League Capital, but obviously Rosenthal, or he guessed technically Omer, had decided that an in person visit was necessary this time.

Having taken his coat, the suited man lead Gerald through the foyer to a small corridor lined with elevator doors. One opened as they approached, the man directing him to it.

"This way please. Someone will be waiting for you on the 9th Floor."

Giving the man a curt nod, Gerald stepped into the elevator and hit the button for the 9th Floor. It was the highest floor in the building shy of going up to the roof via an emergency stairwell, but it was highly unlikely that the Omer board member wanted to speak to him out there. Considering it was early July, it should have been a cool, balmy evening; instead it was miserable with a fine mist of precipitation falling like a chilling cloud of moisture.

With a quiet ping, the elevator came to a halt and the doors slid open. Just like the man on the ground floor had promised, someone was waiting for him. This time a woman with her hair in a tight bun and a black suit like most in the building.

She silently gestured for him to follow the corridor to the right. It wasn't hard to see where he was going, a large wall of frosted glass faced him with a tiny silver tinted plaque that read 'Senior Management Officer'.

A single, unassuming door stood between him and what would likely be the most exhaustingly pointless discussion in his recent memory.

Gerald pushed on it, cool air flowing onto him from the ceiling mounted air conditioning, the lighting was marginally brighter than it had been in the areas beforehand but it wasn't enough to dazzle him.

There were three people waiting for him. One sat off to the side of the room with a very small tablet computer with a wirelessly connected keyboard, both set on a thin desk that had been pulled in front of him.

The other two were sat expectantly with paperwork in front of them, looking directly at him. One was an old, pale, thin man with equally thin grey hair, a gaunt face and round glasses that sat high on the bridge of his nose. He had a silver and light blue pin on his blazer lapel; it was the League of Corporation's symbol, marking him as a League official.

The other was a much younger man with olive skin, probably in his mid-twenties. He wore a black suit with gold pinstripes with a small gold pin on the lapel in the shape of Omer's symbol. His black hair was short, slicked into a side parting and he had a well kept beard on his face. Everything about him said 'company man'. It was safe to assume that this was the Mr. Nakari that he was supposed to meet.

He stood up once Gerald was in the room properly with the door closed behind him. Wearing what could only be a false smile, he spoke in measured tones.

"Welcome and good evening Mr. Gendlin. If you would like to take a seat, we can get this meeting underway. I'm sure you want this over as fast as I do."

"Sure thing."

Sitting down cautiously, the pale man slid several pieces of paper towards Gerald. His voice was hoarse, like he'd spent a lifetime inhaling grit.

"These are reports we received from Collard. They are the last missions you completed for us over the recent weeks."

With obvious reluctance he read through a few of the reports.

Massive repair bills, extortionate support costs, it was all there. A nice, concise list of his failings and liabilities. It's always important to be efficient when reminding someone they were a burden.

Gerald sighed and pushed the papers away, not even bothering to finish reading them, they all said the same thing anyway.

"Alright, so what, what do you want from me?" said Gerald, a hint of bitterness seeping into his words.

This time it was Mr. Nakari that spoke.

"Omer as a collective is only concerned that perhaps your performance is indicative of issues that we aren't aware of. We understand that your aptitude for piloting Noblesse Oblige is… Less than optimal, but if there is any way that we can assist you then the Corporation and the League will do anything in its power t-"

"You all know what the solution is, you cut me loose and find someone else. I was never supposed to get in that cockpit. I'm no replacement for him."

"Mr. Gendlin, _you_ know that is not a solution we or the League can take. While your performance in the field has been disappointing, using you as the pilot of Noblesse Oblige is an asset that we can not afford to squander."

"An _asset_? Do you even remember what it's like to recognise pilots as people? That there are human beings inside the weapons you throw around like chess pieces?"

The pale man answered for Mr. Nakari.

"I think what Mr. Nakari is trying to say is that you need to see this situation from the perspective of the League and its shareholders. The loss of an icon such as yourself would be a blow that the Corporations as a whole are unwilling to risk. At the same time, there are many in the League who are becoming somewhat concerned at the reports we're receiving from Collard."

"The shareholders? Are you joking? Why the hell should I care about people who've never stepped foot on the battlefield? They've never risked their life for anything. Never taken a life to protect another. Anyone who hasn't gone through what we soldiers endure every day, should have no right to decide our lives."

gave Gerald a bemused smile, like he was listening to the incoherent ramblings of a child. But that was just it, because to him, Gerald really was nothing more than a child. Even that was just his mind trying to deny the truth he'd already heard. He was less than a child.

He was an _asset_.

And assets don't get to have an opinion.

"Mr. Gendlin, I don't think you quite understand. Why on Earth would shareholders have to concern themselves with such things? We don't expect Lynx such as yourself to worry about the day to day running of the Corporation's internal business now do we? I think it's a little unfair to expect that in the reverse. We don't ask much of you, just follow orders and complete the mission. The issue at hand here is that you just aren't meeting the expectations the League has for you, you understand, right?"

"Yeah I understand alright. I'm not Leonhardt and it's costing you. That's it, isn't it?"

For a split second, a slight smile flashed across Mr. Nakari's face, as if to confirm Gerald's accusation before he turned his face away, rubbing his nose and looking back with the same composed expression as before.

But before he could respond, the pale man from the League chimed in with a scathing tone in his voice.

"Know your place Mr. Gendlin. You might be valuable to the League but you are still a Collard Lynx. Respect the authority that governs you or we will see fit to punish you."

Mr. Nakari raised his hand slightly to the pale League official as if to stay his rising temper before speaking.

"All we're asking is that we want to see less of this," He punctuated his words by tapping on the papers in front of him, "and more results that keep the officials in the boardroom like me happy. I'll ask one last time, do you understand?"

Gerald wanted to rebel, to lash out at the people driving him down into the ground. But all that would get him is further punishment and he'd still have to do exactly what they said. There was no escape from this.

"Yes, I understand."

With an undoubtedly fake smile, Mr. Nakari said, "Good, I'm glad we could come to an agreement on this." As he spoke, he gathered the papers between them, tapping them into order and clipped them together. "Omer and the League will be keeping a close eye on your performance and we look forward to seeing your improvements in the near future."

He and the pale League official stood up and tucked their seats in before moving to leave. The man who had been typing away at the side of the room folded up his tablet and slid the thin desk away before following the officials out.

They left him there in the office alone.

The League saw him as a rat in a cage with no way out.

Getting up, he walked out of the office and into the elevator. The moment he stepped out there was a staff member waiting with his coat. He gave a single "Thanks" to the staff before walking out into the now pouring rain. The storm started without him even realising while in the building.

After everything that had been discussed, he couldn't help but think about getting out, about finding something better than the League. He just didn't know how, their system was impossible to leave once you were inside and it was especially true for him.

But that said, there were those outside the system, the ones he was supposed to be hunting down because of the threat they possessed. What if there _was_ an escape…?


	8. Act 2: Ch 7: Came Back Haunted

Act 2

Rays of Darkness

Undisclosed Location, Dropship Hold

07:45

10/07/2114

It had been quite some time since Alicia had been in the hold of a dropship, the last time had probably been her last deployment with Omer shortly before her training as a Lynx began on the last few weeks of 2112.

There had been weeks when it felt like she was living on board the damn things, being shuttled from battlefield to battlefield. If she wasn't killing, she was in one of these brutally uncomfortable seats.

However, things had changed in recent times. She'd swapped out the seat of a dropship for the seat of her NEXT's cockpit. Still killing, but at least it was reasonably more comfortable.

Thinking about Whiplash reminded her about the NEXT's condition. The engineers at the Collard hanger had looked particularly despondent when she had brought the battered and broken machine in for repairs.

The destroyed limbs would have to be outright replaced as repairing them would take an inordinate amount of time and probably cost just as much. The other damaged parts would be repaired or replaced depending on how bad they were.

If anything, Alicia was just glad that she wasn't a regular there. This was actually the first time she'd had to leave Whiplash in for an extended duration. Usually it was just a case of buffing out any bumps or scratches and touching up the paintwork.

Sajjan on the other hand, who currently sat next to her a seat away, had come out of the entire ordeal barely needing a single thing done to his AC. She was almost embarrassed that she got shown up by a dying man in outdated hardware.

The moment the thought crossed her mind, she immediately chastised herself. The man had virtually killed himself in his fight with Havok, pushing his ailing body past the safe limits he'd come to learn since being stricken with his sickness.

Spending a night in a League hospital and then the next at home coughing so hard he couldn't even keep food down. Alicia had to spend that night without sleep by his side to make sure he didn't get into serious trouble.

He hated himself for the burden that he put on her, but by this point it was just a part of life with him. It didn't stop him from throwing out dark jokes about how she wouldn't have to do this for much longer at least. She couldn't help but think about how messed up that line of thinking was.

Having been given a few days off to recover and a temporary higher dosage of medication, Sajjan had called in a handful of favours to be able to visit Havok in the maximum security prison facility he was being held in.

Alicia didn't exactly know where this place was. They'd taken a transporter from the Capital to a population centre near the southern coast of the continent, roughly where the state of Louisiana used to be. There they'd gotten on board the dropship they currently sat in and were headed further south, now some way over the Gulf of Mexico.

Mexico might not exist anymore, but some places were just easier to remember by their Pre-Great Destruction names.

She turned slightly to look at Sajjan. He was staring blankly at the opposite side of the dropship's hold, the thoughts swirling around in his mind a total mystery.

She couldn't lie, he looked like absolute shit. Deep purple bags under his eyes, gaunt, sunken cheeks, his beard was greying and frayed. The turban on his head was a mess, usually he made somewhat of an effort to keep it in line but today it was barely in place.

Alicia poked him in the shoulder to get his attention. "Hey." Unfazed, he turned slightly to look down at her. She pointed up at his chaotic turban, "Lemme fix that for you."

Sajjan gave a huff like he didn't see the point, but yielded quickly and leaned towards her. Having been given permission, she reached up and undid the turban. The cause for its state became quickly apparent as untied hair came pouring out.

"Man, what the hell did you expect if you don't do it right." She muttered to herself while pulling his hair in and doing her best to control it with the tie that had come loose.

It took roughly 10 minutes to sort but the end result was something that was almost close to acceptable. If nothing else, it wasn't at risk of falling off now.

Although, now that she had his attention, Alicia figured she might as well ask now.

"What exactly are we doing flying out to see the guy who personally tried to kill us only a few days ago?"

Sajjan let out a long sigh before answering.

"I need to talk to Havok. I have questions that only he can answer and the League aren't exactly so generous on visitation rights for terrorists. So we're doing this off the books so to speak."

"Is Havok linked to the guy you've been looking for? I can't imagine you going this far out of service to the League."

"You could say that, and you're right that this isn't in service for the League. This is purely for my own benefit, but let's just keep that between ourselves."

He wore a thin but tired grin as he said this. Whatever this was about, it was no skin off her back to help him. Alicia had a lot more time to achieve her goals.

The dropship rocked slightly in a pocket of turbulence, they'd been in the air for awhile now and she was just beginning to consider contacting the pilot about their ETA when she felt the familiar sensation of deceleration.

"Looks like we're here." Muttered Sajjan, whether to himself or to her she wasn't sure, but he was apparently correct as the dropship pitched up sharply before everything lurched forwards as they touched down.

The harnesses restraining the two of them came loose allowing them to stand up and head to the ramp at the dropship's rear which had already begun to drop.

"It's not raining, that's a pleasant surprise," said Alicia, looking up at the iron grey sky, thin golden beams of light breaking through the cloud cover.

"Don't count on it to hold up, give it 30 seconds and we could be flying out in a hurricane."

"Aren't you a bundle of joy?"

He grinned but didn't reply, walking up to the two armed guards that flanked the entrance. They gripped their weapons a little tighter as they approached but it looked like they were expecting someone at the very least.

"State your name, affiliation and intention."

The guard on the right had stepped forward and spoke directly to Sajjan, cutting his progress forward short with a handheld bioscanner pointed at him.

Sajjan had a look on his face that quite clearly said he was annoyed, but he opened up the cuff of his jumpsuit and stretched out his wrist to the scanner.

"Sajjan Singh, Lynx, here to interrogate the prisoner brought in two days ago, you should have been informed of our arrival by Collard."

Alicia couldn't see the guard's face but several glances between the information on the scanner and Sajjan followed by a long glance at the guard's partner suggested that perhaps they were unsure.

Her fears were unfounded though.

"Alright, you next."

The guard waved her forwards and she copied Sajjan's motions.

"Alice Hutchinson, Lynx, assisting with the interrogation."

Not as much hesitation this time as he only appeared to double check twice before letting her pass.

Once they were out of earshot and through the armoured bulkhead that separated the prison interior from the gloomy outdoors, Alicia relaxed a little.

"You'd think we were the criminals with the way those guards treated us."

"Still not figured out that we might as well be to the League? They're afraid of us. The Corporations have feared people like us since before even the original Ravens were established. Armored Core pilots, NEXT pilots, anyone with the skill and capacity to harness the power those war machines give us is a potential threat to the League's authority. That's why they keep us on such a short leash. They saw how hard the Ravens fought during the wars they paid for, how desperately we clung to survival when they engineered our annihilation. Now they see that same strength in Line Ark and the warlords that roam the wastelands between population centers. My bet is that should those warlords and Line Ark eventually be wiped out, us Lynx will shortly follow. Can't have such powerful weapons under the control of individuals."

"Keep talking like that and the League might make you disappear."

"Why are you gonna rat me out?"

She threw him a wry grin.

"You kidding? I'll be running from them faster than you old man."

Sajjan gave a weak laugh at that. Not that he didn't find it funny, but if he laughed too hard he could trigger another coughing fit.

It was saddening that this sickness was even stripping him of his ability to express himself.

The pair had to travel through half a dozen more checkpoints, regularly being made to prove their identity and for the last section a guard personally escorted them to the lowest levels of the prison.

By Alicia's estimation they were probably hundreds of feet under the ocean surface now.

"They really know how to make a guy comfortable don't they."

"This is where the League houses the people they consider the greatest threat to their rule but are unable to kill them for whatever reason. I imagine they'll hold Havok here until they've got everything they need and if he refuses to cooperate, he'll likely be found guilty of whatever crime they can think of before being executed."

"Well I mean, he is a fucking terrorist at the end of the day, you almost sound upset by the idea."

Sajjan said nothing in return. She knew that he was linked in someway to the man Sajjan was searching for, but surely his life didn't mean anything, did it?

After descending another level via elevator, they were led to a small desk with a portly looking man in an ill fitting shirt with a tie loosely hung around his neck. He looked like the sort of person that got relegated to these jobs so that the upper management didn't have to deal with them anymore.

The guard with them left the man without saying a word. With an audible sigh, he leant back in his seat, reclining and folding his hands over his stomach that protruded slightly over the belt of his black trousers.

"So, can I help you two?"

Alicia let Sajjan answer as technically he was the one who'd been given the favours, she was just cruising in his wake by this point.

"We're here to see the prisoner." He nodded towards the sturdy looking armoured bulkhead behind the man and his desk, "You should have been informed of our arrival?"

The man gave Sajjan an exceptionally dubious look before leaning forwards and tapping away on the unseen screen of a computer below the top of the desk.

After a few seconds of his eyes scanning left and right he apparently accepted Sajjan's vague answer.

"Of course, is there anything else I can do?"

In that moment he leaned onto the desk, Sajjan suddenly giving the man a look that Alicia had never seen before, speaking in a tone that she didn't recognise.

"I tell you what, could you turn off the cameras and audio recording in there? I mean, we've got to be thorough with this guy and make sure that what he's telling us is true, you understand, right?"

A knowing smile spread across the man's face and he nodded slowly.

"Oh, oh I understand my man. Don't worry about that, I'll make sure you have all the privacy you need. He got good friends of mine killed. Make sure you get what you need out of him for as long as you need."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it."

With that, the man at the desk remotely unlocked the door for them and let them pass.

Alicia was about to ask what that was about, but the moment she was able to see his face again, the same old distant expression was back.

She changed tack.

"That's some impressive acting."

"When you spend your life licking the boots of those that despise you, you get good at pretending to be happy."

He had a point, but there was no time to discuss it further as the door slid open with a hiss, revealing a rather plain sight inside.

The thing that immediately caught their eye was the back of a man sitting in a plain and simple metal frame chair. He was sat at an equally unadorned table with a pair of strip lamps above his head illuminating the room. There was a single seat opposite him on the other side of the table and looking up at the fair left corner, a small CCTV camera hung from a mount that was pointed directly at the man in the chair.

They stepped inside, the door shutting behind them followed by a delayed clunk indicating that it had locked them in. The small red LED on the CCTV camera blinked twice before going out completely.

Just like Sajjan had asked, they were now alone, locked in a windowless room with the leader of Line Ark and the man considered the greatest threat to the League.

Havok.

They walked around his left hand side together, moving with deliberate caution. Havok's face was lowered, staring down at the table in silence, not moving.

Once they reached the otherside, Alicia took a few steps back, leaning up against the wall to the side of the table and allowing Sajjan to take the seat. Even if it hadn't been his meeting, it would have been good courtesy to yield the chair to a man who struggled to remain on his two feet despite his protests.

Now able to get a closer look at Havok, it became clear that he was wearing a reinforced jumpsuit typical of MT or NEXT pilots, similar to the ones they wore during missions, but his was a different design, not to even mention how worn and damaged it was.

It was borderline patchwork. Uncountable scuffs and scrapes, crudely stitched up tears and portions that had been obviously replaced with material from other jumpsuits. Some of the reinforced segments were missing or badly damaged.

Alicia almost jumped when he moved, despite how slow the motion was. He simply shifted back in the seat slightly, sitting upright and looking at Sajjan.

Now able to see his face clearly, she should have known better than to be surprised that his physical appearance followed through from the clothes he wore.

Disheveled was one way of putting it.

He looked to have either some kind of sickness like Sajjan or was suffering from malnutrition. His face was showing signs of gauntness and he had deep black/purple bags under his eyes. The hair on his head was roughly cut and looked greasy, like he hadn't showered in weeks or longer. Likewise his facial hair was sporadic, perhaps indicating that his razor was blunt or broken.

All in all, he looked like a man that no longer cared about his own appearance. That wasn't even going into the bruising and minor cuts on his face. Clearly others had been in before for the same reason they'd given to the man outside.

It was then that he finally spoke.

"You look like shit."

Sajjan didn't obviously react, but Havok obviously saw something that Alicia missed standing off to the side of him. A thin, wry grin spreading across his emaciated face.

"Are you not going to introduce me to your friend? That seems kind of rude."

Sajjan finally responded, but it didn't sound like he was entirely invested in the conversation.

"Can we not? I didn't come all this way to banter with you."

"Why not? It's been a while, let's catch up."

 _Catch up? What?_

Sajjan's eyes flickered to Alicia and caught her confused expression. He let out a long sigh, apparently resigning himself to whatever he was about to say.

"This is why everything had to be done off the books. With favours and no recording. The League can never find out Havok's identity."

If Sajjan didn't say now she'd never let up on asking. The seed of curiosity had truly been planted in her.

"The man sitting here is Elijah Thomson. The one who ended the GA war by killing Miles Torus and then founded Line Ark. He is the man I've been looking for all this time."

Alicia did everything in her power to hide her shock, but that wasn't nearly enough. At the very least she was able to stop herself from making any noise but she visibly recoiled backwards from the revelation.

Once this was over, he was telling her everything even if it killed him.

Havok, or Elijah now, looked far too comfortable, almost smug for a terrorist soon to be sentenced to d-

 _Wait a second…_

Sajjan interrupted her train of thought.

"Elijah you know what will happen to you after we leave don't you?"

"Oh I'm fully aware of what will happen to me, but do you know what will happen to you? You and all your friends in the League?"

That got a reaction out of Sajjan, who subtly tensed up.

"Do you really think that becoming part of the League was something I wanted? Something that I would do?"

"I don't know what you'd do anymore. I stopped knowing you after the Ark fell. When you turned your back on me so you could nurse your own wounds."

"I…"

Sajjan looked… Ashamed? Was Elijah telling the truth?

Composing himself somewhat, Sajjan looked back up and straight at Elijah who was now leaning back in the seat as best he could.

"Elijah, I need you to leave Line Ark. If you keep going with all of this, you'll never be able to come back from it."

"You sound like you're trying to pull some 'I'm saving you from yourself' bullshit and frankly I'm sickened that you even think like that. After everything you did, after everything you said, after all the blame you put on me you have the fucking nerve to turn around and act like you're saving me?!"

Elijah tried to stand up involuntarily but with a loud clang he was restrained by the rigid handcuffs that were chained to the table.

"Please Elijah you have to understand, the League will kill you. There is no other way this ends if you stay with Line Ark. I did everything because it was the best option I had at the time, everything I did was to try and protect you. Things just…"

"Things just what? Huh? Just what!?"

"Everything fell apart! I… I…"

"You're right, everything did fall apart. We lost everyone and we lost everything. But you wouldn't stand up and fight when you learned the truth. You went crawling back to the Corporations, happy to maintain and even strengthen the status quo. They've run out of control for nearly two years because people like you wouldn't do the right thing!"

Sajjan was on his feet now, the chair sent clattering backwards from the violence of the action. Alicia was shocked, seeing yet another part of the man she apparently barely knew.

"And you think killing innocent people is the right thing. How many died in the attack on the Capital? I refuse to believe you've sunk as low as indiscriminate slaughter to justify your goals."

"If you think you can save everyone then you're even more of a fool than I thought you were."

"I'm not trying to save everyone, right now I'm trying to save just one person. I'm trying to save you!"

A truly bitter expression crossed Elijah's face as he slumped back into the seat with a bang as the legs slammed into the floor from the impact.

"You're not trying to save me. You don't give a shit about me. You're just trying to save yourself. Save yourself from the guilt you still haven't lifted from your shoulders. That gnawing feeling in your gut, I bet it's kept you up more than one night since the Ark fell."

"Shut up."

"You thought you could make life easier for yourself by pinning the blame on me, by making it all my fault. You shunned me. Pushed me away. Made me feel like I was alone when I needed someone!"

"Shut up."

"Everyone I cared about, everyone I loved slowly went away. First my family, then my friends and my home, even my faith in what was right, all taken from me by the people I trusted. When I had nothing, when my back was to the wall the only thing I could count on was myself. I saved myself in the pit beneath Maxwell, I gave myself the strength to kill Miles Torus. I should have been doing those things for everyone, for the Ravens, for you! But instead you betrayed me in the name of self-comfort!

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

Sajjan had slammed his fist onto the tabletop, only then managing to silence Elijah. Alicia stood motionless, no words to even begin contributing to the dialogue happening before her.

Elijah's silence didn't last long, he turned to look at her, his eyes unflinching as he locked gazes with hers.

"So, I'll ask again, who's this? The next candidate for a knife in their back?"

His fist tightened, but Sajjan kept his temper this time and answered.

"This is Alice Hutchinson, she's the one that was with me when we brought you down at the Capital."

"Alice Hutchinson huh… Hutchinson…"

Elijah's eyes narrowed, a sudden piercing quality to them that hadn't been there before. Beads of cold sweat started to form as the expression of recognition spread across his face. Sajjan didn't see it as he was still looking at the tabletop, but Alicia saw it plain as day the moment it happened.

That same withered, wry smile Elijah had given early spread across his face. The sight of it sent shivers down her back for only a single reason.

 _He knows…_

In a single sentence the man sat before the two of them could undo all of her work. If he ratted her out to the League that would be it. There would be no second chances.

The thought terrified her, but right now, her life and the very meaning of her existence lay in the hands of a man who thought nothing of killing thousands to achieve what he believed was right.

But if she could say that about him…

Elijah turned back to Sajjan, the smile mostly gone but for a few hints of it across his face, in his eyes.

"Hey Sajjan, how's the League's ace doing? Gerry? George?"

Sajjan made a sound like he was deflating.

"Gerald. Gerald Gendlin. I don't know him personally but he's still at the top of the Collard rankings so I imagine he's doing just fine. Care to fill me in on the sudden change in topic?"

"Oh I was just curious, I was wondering how he would have stacked up against Berlioz."

On Sajjan's face confusion spread, and despite Alicia's best efforts, she felt the reactionary flinch at hearing his name so suddenly roll through her.

It was involuntary, but it was apparently what Elijah was looking for as his attention had returned to her and was now far more focused than before.

"You know," he started, "Line Ark could always use more pilots. Surely that has to be more appealing than dying as a dog of the League?"

Sajjan now looked exasperated.

"Are you seriously trying to poach a Collard pilot in the middle of an interrogation?"

"The League is going to kill me anyway, what do I have to lose? So… Alice was it? What do you think?"

For a man who was fully aware of his fate, Elijah couldn't look more relaxed, like he was the one in the position of power instead of them. How could he be so calm? Facing certain death in a matter of days, yet sitting here slinging words like an old friend.

Just what kind of a person was Line Ark's leader, and how had he become like this?

For the first time since she and Sajjan had entered the room, Alicia spoke up.

"I don't know what drove you to do what you do, what you went through in the war with GA, but neither side, not the League or Line Ark can claim the moral high ground here. The League has taken freedom and dignity from the human race as a whole, Line Ark has killed thousands upon thousands of lives in its vendetta against the League. If you think you're better than them, you're wrong. We're all equally to blame for every life lost. You talk about carrying the weight of your blame, but you seem more than happy to hold the League responsible for every single body you leave in your wake. Someone who can't even see their own hypocrisy has no place in asking me to die for their cause. You can call me whatever you like, a dog of the League if you will, but I can look at the corpses behind me safe in the knowledge that I could bear the burden of that sin. I accept the stains on my hands. But, Elijah Thomson, can you say the same?"

The look on the Line Ark leader's face had changed from relaxed and confident to incredulous and borderline stunned.

What did he expect, so frivolously bringing up her brother in front of her. She'd bring the weight of her conviction down on anyone that dared to question her resolve. Especially if that person couldn't even do it themselves.

Seeing a gap in the conversation, Sajjan began talking again.

"Elijah, please. We can help you, neither of us are with the League because we want to be, but because they gave us the power we needed to achieve our personal goals."

"You're helping them all the same, regardless of the end, the means still brings them more control, more profit."

Elijah spat the words back, his calm replaced with the same bitterness he'd used before when shouting at Sajjan.

"We have no alternative. Without our ACs or NEXTs we have no hope of survival. I truly meant it when I said I wanted to save you. Ever since Maxwell I knew I had to stop you, before that burning need for revenge I saw destroyed you completely."

"And we're back to square one. I don't care. Just like you didn't. You don't get to stick me in a room and stroll in expecting me to roll over and forgive you. I don't have that luxury." He turned to Alicia this time, "It's a real shame you won't join us. We could have done with someone like you."

She did nothing but narrow her eyes at the man who said he knew best as he looked away, back to Sajjan as he started speaking.

"Is there nothing I can do to make you give this grudge up? Are you so committed to pride that you'll condemn yourself to self-destruction?"

He got a sharp, cutting laugh in return, but in its harshness it almost immediately fell into a sad stare.

"If you can think of it only as pride, then perhaps we'll never see eye to eye again. I think our time here is done, don't you think? Or did you want to sit around and remember times gone by that we can never get back?"

Sajjan said nothing, just quietly standing up and walking to Alicia's side.

"I don't think there's anything else I can say to him, it's best we leave."

Clearly Sajjan had taken his fill of bitter nostalgia. Perhaps it was less that he had nothing to say, but he just didn't want to hear any more from the man he'd spent so long trying to find. So long only to be turned away.

She could even feel the resentment and animosity radiating from Elijah like boiling waves washing over her and filling the room with a discomfort unlike anything she'd felt before. The man was fueled by rage and despair. There was no doubt that he had been harbouring, nurturing even, this vicious grudge against Sajjan.

The two of them began leaving, but before they reached the door, Sajjan stopped, and spoke without turning around, his face downcast and out of sight.

"I can't stop you Elijah, but I want you to know that this won't end well if you don't let this hate go. If you can't forget your revenge, you'll-"

"Sajjan," Elijah cut him off, "Don't make the mistake that I am naive. I've already seen where this path leads me. I've seen the end result of my actions and I will see this through to the end. If you take that away from me, if you rob me of my revenge, I'll become nothing. It's both the blood in my veins and the blood that I spill. Without it, I die. Would you be so cruel as to kill me like that? Maybe you will. But let me make myself perfectly clear…"

He stood up to the best of his ability, legs shaking from the pain and strain of the action, the cuffs on his wrists digging into him as he forced himself to turn as far as he could, eyes burning into Sajjan's back.

"This story does not have a happy ending. Only a fool could trick themselves into believing so; and some long forgotten, distant part of me wants to think that you aren't that much of a fool."

Thin rivers of red bubbled up and ran in shallow streaks down Elijah's hands and wrists, the harsh edges of the cuffs cutting through skin under the pressure he exerted.

Sajjan said nothing. He simply let Elijah say his piece before walking out of the door. Alicia paused for just a moment, meeting Elijah's burning gaze.

The Line Ark leader had nothing to say to her, choosing to sit down in exactly the same position that he'd been in when they entered. Back to the door and unmoving.

As she left, she felt just the faintest empathy to him.

They were more similar than she wanted to admit, but Elijah had said out loud exactly what she'd been telling herself ever since she lost her brother.

As the door slammed shut behind the two of them, separating them, she continued to this on this. Without revenge, she was nothing. It just sounded a little harsher to hear it out loud.

She could say, that it almost sounded somewhat sad.


	9. Act 2: Ch 8: A Modern Myth

Undisclosed Location, Secure Level-S0

09:10

10/07/2114

As the secure door to Elijah's holding room locked itself shut, Sajjan let out probably the longest sigh that Alicia had ever heard.

He looked exhausted, which wasn't surprising considering the rather strained reunion that the two old former Ravens just had in that windowless room. Records on GA's war were sparse to say the least. Or if they weren't, she simply didn't have access to the right places for that kind of information.

But this encounter had shone the spotlight of truth on some of the League's misinformation. According to official reports, the Raven who killed Miles Torus during the assault on Maxwell had died in the attempt. The fact that Sajjan never made a comment on Elijah's claim of killing Miles Torus meant that he was telling the truth and had survived.

The League had everyone believe that the CEO of GA America defeated the Raven but was then overrun by Leonemeccanica reinforcements. They were dead set on driving the image home of Ravens being weak and unreliable. The more negative press the mercenaries got, the more accepting the public would be of the League.

For the most part, their plan had worked. Support for Line Ark, at least openly, was actually pretty low and those who did publicly advocate any criticism of the League would soon enough vanish from sight.

There was no room for a middle ground. Either you abided by the League's rules or you chose to struggle outside the system as a vagrant of the wasteland or a warrior of Line Ark.

The trip back up to the surface was just as laborious and tedious as the descent, but this time the pair were silent. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, more one that was recognised as necessary time to process the previous discussion they had just had.

Leaving the final elevator and stepping out of the bulkhead to fresh air was an unforeseen blessing. The morning Sun had made short work of the previously overcast skies, boiling away the grey to reveal the clear blue behind it.

The dropship was waiting for them, the pilot apparently having taken a nap while they were with Elijah.

In a few seconds the ramp dropped, allowing them to enter, still silent all the way to the point of sitting down and locking the harness, until Sajjan spoke the moment the ramp raised and sealed shut.

"You know, there's something that I can't quite work my head around from back there."

Alicia was shocked slightly by the sudden speech, but recovered and answered.

"What's that?"

"What made Elijah decide to bring up Berlioz?" Alicia stiffened slightly but let him continue, "I mean there was no reason to. I know that he meant a lot to Elijah but it felt very unusual to just throw his name out like that."

"Maybe he knew something that we didn't. Who knows."

"Did you know him?"

 _Better than you could possibly imagine._

"No, not really. Bits and pieces from reports I've read, maybe a couple of documents on the war with GA."

"Hmmmm…"

Sajjan paused for thought, and Alicia now wondered where exactly he was going with this train of thought.

"If you don't have anything urgent on your plate, I've got something to show you. If you're interested in the war we fought with GA and by extension Berlioz, it might be a worthwhile secret to share with you."

Alicia couldn't help the expression of incredulity spread across her face at the idea of someone knowing something about her brother that she didn't.

"Hell, even if I had plans they'd be cancelled right now. I'm in."

Sajjan gave a rare smile at her reply.

"Well let's get back to the mainland first, we've gotta go and pick something up before we can do anything."

#####

As it turned out, the 'something' that Sajjan needed to pick up was their method of transportation. It was an old model Leonemeccanica personal vehicle that resembled an early 21st century car but with folding wings that had rotating VTOL capable thrusters on the tips. Sajjan had made a couple of modifications to it, the first being several capacitor banks being roughly installed where the rear seats should have been to drastically increase the range of the vehicle. The other had been to spoof the League's regulation tracking system in the vehicle so that he could use it in restricted areas that would usually bring League security onto your head.

It was this combination of alterations that Sajjan said would allow us to go wherever it was that he wanted to take her.

The vehicle had been stored in a small back alley garage that looked more suited to housing denizens of a less reputable sort.

Thankfully the area was completely deserted, they were the only two there.

In the small garage that Sajjan had privately rented, off the books, he made the final adjustments inside an open panel on the right hand side of the fuselage while Alicia sat inside the vehicle.

"Are we there yet?" She said looking in a reverse view mirror.

Sajjan glared at her around the side of the panel.

"Keep that up and we won't be going anywhere."

If nothing else, she was glad that his usual attitude had returned so quickly after the rather emotional morning they'd had so far. She hoped that it was genuine, it didn't help anyone if he was putting on a tough front only to break down later.

With a solid slam, Sajjan closed the panel and clambered under the vehicle's tail to the left hand side and clambered into the open door.

"Right, are we ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

The pair of them buckled their harnesses before Sajjan set about pulling various levers and pushing buttons to unfurl the wings and ignite the thrusters.

Angling them downwards, he pushed a small button on what looked like a remote taped to the inside framework of the vehicle's interior.

Through the glass ceiling, Alicia could see the roof of the garage begin to grind open, splitting down the middle, revealing the sky above them.

The moment that it juddered to a halt, Sajjan pushed the throttle to his side slowly forwards, the hum from the thrusters slowly growing to a deep rumble while the familiar high pitched whine of turbine engines cut through.

With a slight wobble, the vehicle lifted away from the ground, smoothly ascending through the gap. He pushed the remote again, presumably to close the roof as she couldn't see directly below her from where she was sitting.

Once they'd gained enough altitude, with a little manipulation on the collective to Sajjan's left and the control stick between his knees, he slowly rotated the thruster pods, pushing them from a hover to horizontal flight.

After not even five minutes in the air, they sailed through one of the designated gates high in the wall that surrounded the Capital. Sajjan mentioned that they'd have to put some distance between them and the Capital or they'd risk drawing attention to themselves.

This definitely gave the impression that they were headed somewhere that they were not supposed to go.

Around 10 minutes after leaving the Capital, Sajjan checked something on a display in front of him before banking them gently to the left, breaking away from the handful of other vehicles in the pre-marked route before pushing the throttle to the maximum.

The weak orange glow from the thruster's exhaust became a deep blue and purple shock diamond stretching at least a good metre from the engine nozzle.

In the same instant, Alicia was slammed back into the seat, caught unawares by the sudden acceleration.

"J-jesus, take it easy would you?"

Sajjan gave a short laugh in reply.

"Well we don't want to dawdle do we?"

She grumbled nonsense under her breath but said nothing more, quickly acclimatising to the g-force.

There certainly was a burning urge to ask Sajjan where they were going, but she figured that this was perhaps a big deal for him and didn't want to take the fun away from him.

Only a short while after they broke away from the designated flight path, maybe half an hour later, a small red LED flashed up on the dashboard in front of both of them.

"What's that? We aren't gonna fall out of the sky are we?"

"No nothing like that, it's simply a notification that we're now in restricted airspace. But the spoofing system means that we're recognised as authorised to be here so the League won't trouble us. I don't know exactly how long this will take so I'd rather not have the worry of dropships appearing over the horizon."

Alicia's expectations of where Sajjan was taking her now didn't seem so much rooted in simple curiosity. According to the onboard navigation, they were now flying over the area that previously would have been the state of Kansas, a barren expanse of dust and grit.

Nothing lived out here.

Something on the horizon caught her attention though, it looked like a chaotic mess of lumps stretching someway into the sky. Like someone had emptied a giant bag of garbage onto the floor.

However, upon closer inspection as they approached, it became clear that it was actually enormous pieces of wreckage, however she couldn't identify what exactly it was the wreckage of.

The ground for what looked like hundreds of metres around it was a dull grey, the colour of ash faded by time. Fragments of old desert vegetation blackened and charred to a crisp.

Pieces of the wreckage were enormous, the size of buildings or larger. All stained black and twisted by heat.

It was like an inferno of unimaginable ferocity had ripped through whatever was here.

Sajjan, dropped the throttle and opened a series of air brakes, slowing them down enough that he could safely adjust the angle of the thrusters downward, bringing them into land.

The crunch that resounded through the entire vehicle had Alicia concerned that they'd come in too hard and broken something, but Sajjan's lack of reaction said otherwise.

A single step outside was enough to answer the question.

Across the surface of the ground for as far as she could see, at least covering the burnt area around them was a thin layer of glass, every footstep crinkling and crackling with spider webs of the splintered mirror they trod upon.

The desert had been scorched so brutally that the very ground became an almost imperceptible varnish.

Looking around, it was like they had landed in a bizarre, colossal graveyard for whatever came to rest here, broken into pieces.

She had to ask now, simply because she couldn't comprehend what exactly she was looking at.

"Sajjan, what is this, where are we?"

He was quiet for a moment, as if taking in the atmosphere himself before answering.

"It's almost unrecognisable now. I don't think anyone would know what this is, or was to be more accurate, unless you were there."

The pieces were slowly beginning to fall into place, but Sajjan beat her mind to the punch.

"This is what's left of the Raven's Ark. This was our home before GA brought it down, killing thousands in the process."

 _The Ark…_

No wonder something felt so wrong about this place. It truly was a graveyard. A mass grave for those that lost their lives on a day she remembered far too well.

Coming here would be no easy task for Sajjan, haunted by the loss of so many friends, his home. Just like Elijah had said, they'd lost everything in the war.

By contrast, she had lost just one person. But could one be called a greater loss than the other when that singular person had become everything to her by virtue of losing everything else at the hand of Rayleonard?

A thought gripped her in that instant.

Was _he_ here too…?

While lost in the revelation and thought, Sajjan had begun to walk forwards, the sound of glass under his feet bringing her back to reality. She followed him at at his pace, slow but steady. He suddenly gave a violent cough, almost doubling over as he hacked up whatever was clogging his lungs before spitting it out at his feet.

"Don't let me slow us down, come on."

Apparently he wasn't too concerned about the frankly vile lump of yellow and red slime he'd just left on the glass around them.

The Sun was almost directly above them now, but as they progressed deeper into the Ark's crash site, the sheer size of some parts still managed to cast great shadows on them. The change from near blistering heat to the cool of the shade wasn't the only thing to send shivers across her skin.

It wasn't fear, more an unsettling feeling that existed in places such as these.

"Do you ever feel weird coming back here?"

Alicia asked, wondering if it was just her or not.

"No actually, but I could understand if someone else did. But for me, all of this was my home. Even in its last moments, even now as it lies forgotten and broken, it will always be home. Nothing the League could offer will ever amount to what this place gave us all."

Before she could reply, they rounded a huge curved sheet of metal that was pockmarked with what Alicia assumed were bullet holes. Before them was what looked like a plain grey stone obelisk with a plaque at the base facing them.

It could have only been around four metres tall and looked like not a single soul had been out to maintain it. The harsh wind and sand had already begun to erode it down one side, chips and cracks visible in its unadorned surface even from where they stood.

Like those who died here, it stood alone and unloved by any but the survivors of the tragedy they suffered at the hands of the Corporations. No one talked about it anymore, but the existence of Lynxes and their NEXTs was a constantly reminder of the legacy that such things had been born from.

"So far as I know," began Sajjan while standing beside her, "All of the Originals have visited here at one point or another. To say goodbye to the past as we continue to walk forwards into an uncertain and unforgiving future. This memorial was built by Leonemeccanica when they were still operating under the pretense of being the Raven's allies. It was shortly after this phony ceremony that they became part of the League and all the survivors of the betrayal they committed against us were rounded up and forced under threat of execution to join the newly formed Collard, the organisation that they use to keep all the Lynx in line. We had no alternative. Well, most of us didn't. Of the 56 Ravens who lived on the Ark, 11 survived its fall, 6 participated in the attack on Maxwell. Two were killed and one was left disabled, only to take his own life months later. Some of the others managed to get away and they went on to be warlords, bandits, or in Elijah's case, the founder of Line Ark. I think that they believe Elijah died shortly after the battle at Maxwell and that someone else is using the title of Havok to carry on his final promise."

"His final promise?"

"Upon exiting Maxwell, Elijah declared to everyone who was there that he would dedicate the rest of his life to destroying the Corporations in revenge for what they did to us. He then made that same declaration as 'Havok' months later but to every territory under the League's control when Line Ark went public. Maybe no one in the League bothered to look into it, but as someone who'd known Elijah for years, I knew it was him. How the announcement was written, how it was delivered, that and he is far too stubborn to die before his grudge is settled. I don't know what Elijah has planned for the League, but I want to hope that I have another chance to change his mind on all of this."

"I don't mean to piss on your parade, but do you honestly think after everything he said today that there's any hope of him changing his mind? I mean it's not like I _want_ you to give up, but at the same time even I know a lost cause when I see one. I just don't want to see you burn what you've got of your life away on something that'll never come to fruition."

Sajjan stood in silence for a short while, letting a gentle breeze blow over the two of them as they gazed on the memorial erected in false commiseration.

"If I were to give up on Elijah, I think it would be difficult to find meaning in living by that point. Ha… It almost makes me sound like him doesn't it?"

"You'd be surprised at how common that sentiment is. I think far too many people cling to a single goal, dream or ideal and build their entire life around it. The moment that singular point disappears or is broken, everything else around it comes crashing down. The loftier and more noble your ambition, the further it has before hitting the unforgiving ground of reality; and there are no soft white clouds to break your fall anymore. The best we can hope for is some miracle to swing our way in that moment of need and desperation to give us a second chance. To catch us during that terrifying plummet and to grant meaning to our lives again."

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience there."

She didn't answer him, instead choosing to move their trip along.

"So was this what you brought me to see? Or was there something else?"

Alicia grasped that this was at least part of it considering Sajjan had mentioned history, but he'd also mentioned Berlioz in the same sentence meaning that perhaps her brother was involved somehow.

"This was part of it, but not the most important part actually. At least not to some. I know someone in particular that this means an awful lot to, I'm sure you'll recognise who when we get there."

"Are we headed back to the vehicle?"

"No, it's towards the other side of the Ark's wreckage, near the edge."

With that, they walked on, through the clearing that held the memorial, passing it in silence.

If there was something that Alicia was grateful for, it was that she hadn't seen any evidence that anyone had died here. Not a single body. Not a single bone or skull. Nothing.

Anything remotely organic had been absolutely obliterated, incinerated past the point of existence. Turned to ash and charcoal before nature and time broke them down and scattered them on the wind. Perhaps, she thought, the lives lost here could give life to something far away, in a peaceful field without the stains of killing and violence.

Around 10 minutes passed as the two of them weaved their way between charred pieces of the Ark scattered about and embedded in the baked desert ground. In the larger sections, you could see rivers of tainted, impure glass from external window panes that had survived the fall only to melt in the heat of the blaze. Mixed in were thin estuaries of lighter metals, aluminium, copper, flowing and mixing together before cooling into bizarre multicoloured streams, frozen in place.

It was as they rounded this larger piece of the Ark when they came to a second clearing. Although calling it a clearing was misleading as it wasn't nearly as large as the one near the heart of the Ark's crash site where the memorial stood. The wreckage pieces weren't as large and you could see the vast, empty expanse of the desert from where they stood.

But that wasn't the focal point of this place, what caught and held her attention was something that she was not expecting to see in the slightest.

Down on one knee, like a knight before their sovereign, at the centre of this small patch of dirt and dust was an Armored Core.

It was a curious, mixed frame design, utilising parts from Rayleonard, Rosenthal and BFF. It had no weapons to speak of and upon even vague inspection she could see that there was likely a good reason for it being unarmed.

For starters, this AC looked like it had gone into hell only to be spat out again. The most notable detail being that the entire arm from the left elbow down was completely missing, only frayed wires, hydraulic pipes and torn metal indicated that the limb had ever extended past the joint.

Armour plating across virtually every single part of the machine was dented, buckled, cracked or just gone. There was a clean hole straight through the right shoulder, from front to back.

It looked like a lot of the paintwork had been scraped off prior to the AC arriving here, but the harsh sand filled wind had stripped almost all of what remained. There were patches of red and black that she could make out, along with faded flecks of blue in places.

The design and colour scheme tripped a line of thought, bringing back the fight with Elijah in the Capital.

"Sajjan," Alicia asked, incredulity growing in her voice with every word, "Is that… Is that AC related to Elijah and Havok in anyway?"

A faint, weak, almost solemn smile touched his face.

"Not, 'related', that _is_ Havok. The first one at any rate. That is the Armored Core Elijah piloted prior to and during the war with GA. He fled Maxwell after revealing Leonemeccanica's betrayal and I pledged myself to them so they would give him a twenty-four hour head start before they would pursue him. He used that time to come here, as he had something he needed to do before leaving everything behind to become the leader of Line Ark."

"He had something he needed to do? What could he have possibly done here?"

Sajjan said nothing, instead pointing to something at the feet of the machine.

She hadn't noticed it at first, but following his arm, she could then make out what looked like a long, low mound of earth with something sticking out of the end of it.

"What is that?"

Alicia squinted at the mound, trying to make sense of it, or more why Sajjan had pointed it out.

"Why don't you take a closer look?"

"That AC isn't gonna come to life and flatten me is it?"

Sajjan made an exasperated noise.

"Does it look like it's ever going to move again? If anything here is going to flatten you it'll be me if you don't move your ass."

Taking that as the sign to begin moving, she started towards the immobile war machine and the pile at its feet.

Sajjan followed, but a little distance behind.

The dozen or so metres she covered in that time was enough for her to work out what the thing at one end of the earth pile was.

A pole of metal stuck into the ground with what looked like a metal plate hanging from it by wire or something of the like.

It had a disconcerting resemblance to…

 _A grave._

The moment that thought struck her, several things took on a different tone.

Havok, left kneeling here, watching over this specific spot for nearly two years was no coincidence. Sajjan bringing her all the way here. Not to mention everything that happened here and everyone who died.

With every step closer her heart beat faster. The implications of it all adding up to a result she didn't know if she was ready to see.

Then, before she knew it, she stood at the end of the slight mound, the pole and plate clearly in focus with Havok's empty gaze bearing down on her.

The metal plate was actually a plaque.

It had four lines on it, but the same elements that had stripped Havok of its paint had rendered the first and third lines illegible.

But what was left was all she needed to see.

#### ####

 _Berlioz Lamond_

 _##/##/####-##/##/####_

 _A Good Man_

It was him.

He was here, right before her.

Buried where she had watched him fall.

Sajjan was now just behind her, but her vision had narrowed to encompass only the grave at her feet.

In this instant, this moment, all that mattered, all that existed to her was the grave that held the body of her brother.

"Alice?"

Sajjan was speaking, but Alicia wasn't listening.

Slowly, as if moving before a newborn calf, she crouched down on her haunches before slipping onto her knees.

She reached out, pressing her right hand into the dusty, gritty earth, before gradually curling her fingers in, painfully driving them deeper until she held a handful of that dry dirt in her tightly clenched fist.

Between her fingers, in the creases of her palm, underneath her fingernails, it permeated every part of her it came into contact with. It was coarse, uncomfortable, stinging.

A fraction, an almost imperceptible fraction of the weight and pain she had carried with her for so long now.

"You…"

A pain that had tainted her life in every aspect, that had consumed her and driven her to commit unforgivable acts in the name of saving the person beneath the ground before her.

"How could you…"

Sajjan was crouched beside the grave now, a concerned look on his face that was impossible to miss. But, even in his confusion, he understood that right then, there was nothing he could do. A thought to reach out his hand to her in comfort crossed his mind, that thought was gone the moment Alicia opened her lips again.

"You left me behind... You SELFISH MOTHERFUCKER!"

Sajjan physically recoiled away from her, having never once seen such an outburst from her so close.

"I told you that I'd come for you. I told you that I'd save you. I was so, fucking, close. And you went and died anyway! How dare you, how dare you die like that! I thought you were stronger than that, I thought you were…"

With a fist full of dirt, she punched the grave, as if her fury alone would be enough to reach Berlioz.

"After everything I did, after every life I took, both the guilty and the innocent, every soldier, man, woman and child I stole life from to gain another inch closer to saving you. Was it all for nothing?! You piece of shit!"

Again and again, as if punctuating every sentence, she pounded the earth with that fist, venting years of frustration with each blow.

"Why. Why, why why why?! Why… Why couldn't it have been someone else? Why did it have to be you on that deck."

Alicia didn't think she was crying, but she couldn't deny the lump in her throat and her shoulders shaking. Sajjan had recovered enough from the initial shock to finally speak up.

"Alice?"

She gave a deep breath, wiping her face incase any tears had fallen and bringing herself back to her feet, she looked at the hand still clutching dust and dirt.

It was dirty, torn up and bleeding, it looked like she'd gone five rounds with a roll of sandpaper.

"Sajjan," she started quietly, realising that perhaps this moment had been inevitable all along, "My name isn't Alice. I'm not Alice Hutchinson. No one was. She never existed."

Perhaps a hint of surprise flashed across his face, but he spoke quietly, choosing his words carefully, "If you aren't Alice Hutchinson, then who are you?"

"It's a long story."

"Does it look like I'm in a hurry here?"

She had to give him his dues, he at least acted like he cared if nothing else.

"My name… My name is Alicia. Alicia Lamond. I am- Was, Berlioz Lamond's sister. His best kept secret. The one he spent his whole life keeping safe until the very end, even at the cost of his freedom."

Sajjan went from somewhat surprised to outright blown away by the revelation she had just dropped on him. He looked like he'd either seen a ghost or won the lottery, perhaps a curious mixture of the two.

"We were orphaned by the Great Destruction. When the uncle looking after us following their deaths passed away, Berlioz, under age at the time, joined Rayleonard's army to get me into care. They provided a foster family for me, looked after me, educated me, all the while he was on the frontlines. Just a child, killing in their name. Eventually, I was old enough to no longer considered the responsibility of Rayleonard, but the foster family decided to keep me as if I was their own child, Berlioz at that time transitioned from being part of their armed forces to becoming a Raven. Both of us at that point became free of Rayleonard's influence. That lasted a good few years until they came knocking on Berlioz's door. They wanted him to participate in some testing program, I was never able to find many details on it when I was digging through League records. Anyway, he disappeared for maybe three months, until he reappeared saying that he'd completed their program and was going to be signed on as their exclusive Raven. In the middle of the night on the same day I got back from visiting Berlioz on the Ark, Rayleonard special forces stormed our home, they shot my foster brother, Richard when he walked by the front door as they breached the building. He was eight. They dragged my foster parents upstairs with me and the body of Richard into my bedroom. We were all tied up, by our wrists, ankles, gagged. My family who had spent years loving and caring for me was lined up against the wall they used to measure my height on before being shot like animals. I didn't have to wait long before they wheeled a portable computer with an attached camera to it. When they turned it on, I saw Berlioz sitting in a room, surrounded by soldiers, Victor Rayleonard by his side. One of the soldiers put a knife to my throat while Victor put a gun to Berlioz's head. That vile pig of a man threatened to kill me and then Berlioz if he didn't sign himself over to them. I begged him not to, I pleaded for him to not sign, but of course, he did. Knowing that, I promised I'd find and save him, if it was the last thing I did. When they cut the feed, it was the last time I ever saw his face. The soldiers holding me let me go to the bathroom unattended, making the mistake of thinking they could ignore me now their job was done. I took Berlioz's sidearm from the emergency box he made me when he joined the Ravens and killed both of them. Then using the money and fake ID in the box, I traveled to the next population centre and signed up to join Rayleonard's Armed Forces. I figure the fastest way to get to Berlioz was from the inside. So I followed in the trail that Berlioz had cut before me. Killing and killing, over and over, getting closer and closer until finally I had my plan. I was days, no, _hours_ away from saving him. And then… GA attacked the Ark. Berlioz, my brother, the fool, the goddamn fool chose to give his life to save as many as he could. I watched him fight to his final breath. I watched… I watched Maximilian Thermidor throw him over the Ark's edge before it broke apart. The second I realised he was gone, I changed my promise. If I couldn't save him, I'd bring hell to the people that ruined our lives. I already know that Thermidor was killed by a Raven at Maxwell. So all I have to do now is destroy the Corporations, Collard, the League, all of it. I will gut their organisation and their society from the inside out. Elijah might want the same thing, but I can't go back to living like that. Killing without remorse for a 'higher purpose'? Killing innocent people out of desperation? I can't, I won't do that anymore, I have enough of their blood on my hands and around my knees. But in the same breath, I will not stop. If you have dedicated the rest of your life to saving Elijah, then mine is dedicated to the destruction of the rotting corpse we call the League of Corporations."

With that, she held out the fist that she had kept closed tight around the dirt from Berlioz's grave and through the pain of the cuts, the seized up joints of her fingers, let it fall back to the ground.

It had formed into a clod from the sweat, blood and pressure of Alicia's hand. The vague symbolism of it brought a slight smile to her face. After all, it was the price she had paid to get where she stood in that very moment.

If only there was some symbolic way to leave a piece of her fractured humanity as well.

For the first time since she started talking, she looked at Sajjan.

His face seemed to be telling a far more complex story than the one she had just spent 5 to ten minutes reciting.

But he seemed to manage to collect himself before beginning to speak.

"Well, Alicia, that's… That's one hell of a story. Working on the belief that what you said is true, and I do believe everything you said, I should probably admit to having something that belongs to you and should be returned."

"You have something that belongs to me?"

"Well, to be honest, I didn't know it was yours until just now because you've been Alice Hutchinson for the last year and a half or so. It wasn't part of the tour but, I feel that if you can trust me with your history, then I should return what is rightfully yours."

He started walking away from the grave, but stopped before getting too far away.

"I'll be waiting back at the vehicle, I've got a first-aid kit for your hand, but you take as long as you need here."

Alicia said nothing, not needing to. The sound of Sajjan's fading footsteps echoing off the looming pieces of the fallen Ark.

She decided to take him up on his offer, if only for a little while.

Afterall, it had been a long time since she had a chance to catch up with her brother.

#####

Just as he'd said, Sajjan had been waiting back at the vehicle with the door open and his seat reclined back. He'd cleaned and bandaged her hand up, she now sat in the passenger seat staring at the now white wrapped hand, flexing it back and forth, focusing only on the pressure from the bindings. It didn't hurt, Sajjan had done a good job of it to his credit, it was more the sensation that captured her attention.

A welcome, calming low after the emotional boiling point she had gone through earlier.

Sajjan was flying low and slow, as apparently the place they were now headed wasn't in a restricted area, but was somewhere he didn't want anyone poking their nose in for whatever reason.

Alicia would have taken this opportunity to lower the window on the door, letting the fresh air wash over her face in a constant powerful wave, but the parts they were heading through at the moment wasn't safe to move through exposed to the outside. A lot more than politics and society had changed since the League's formation.

The used of Kojima powered technology exploded from virtually the moment it was revealed to the general public. Omer Science Technology licenced it, using a combination of the early designs stolen and reverse engineered from Rayleonard/AkvaVit prior to the war with GA and their own improved models built by internal research teams.

In the space of a few months, most of the former North American continent was being powered by enormous Kojima generators, giant versions of the ones that provided Primal Armour for their NEXTs.

This, combined with the League's borderline excessive usage of NEXTs during operations against independent warlords and Line Ark began a rapidly out of control situation that the League not only failed to prevent, but actively propagated in the face of further profit and control.

Kojima particles, a constant byproduct of Kojima generators, lethal to all biological life quickly passed the point where their creation exceeded their natural rate of decay. These particles began to build up in and near regions where Kojima generators were situated or where NEXTs were particularly active. The ecological destruction caused by the mass firing of Orion in 2091 hadn't even started to recover, now the Kojima particles were finishing off the job. While life had struggled to survive in the blasted wastelands between population centres, there was no hiding from this new, modern poison that the Corporations had created.

The League was keeping track of areas affected by Kojima pollution, noting that their growth and spread had exponentially increased every quarter, even starting to threaten numerous smaller population centres that were more remote.

In a few more years, the contamination would wipe out every outlying centre and most of the major ones with parts of the Capital likely being condemned as well.

Apparently the League was working on a solution, but it likely didn't involve reducing their usage of Kojima powered technology.

For now, thinking on things like this was enough to keep her mind off the day's events so far. It was only midday but Alicia felt like she could sleep for a week.

They'd been in the air for probably 20 minutes or so, she didn't want to dwell on it but she hoped that those extra capacitors worked. She didn't want to be stranded in the middle of the boiling wasteland, even if Sajjan was relatively good company.

Apparently wherever they were headed now was somewhere Sajjan "A place [he] could almost consider home".

Obviously, somewhere new could only come close to replacing the Ark, but never actually get there.

But what Alicia could say for certain, was that it really was in the middle of goddamn nowhere. She could look around in any direction and see nothing but baked, dead earth.

Sajjan clearly saw something she couldn't as their vehicle banked to the left and began to descend.

To be more accurate, it was more like they banked left and slowed down as it wasn't like they had a lot of altitude to lose in the first place.

It was only then that she caught sight of what she assumed was their destination. Far and away less obvious than the titanic ruins of the Raven's Ark, this looked more like a tiny collection of tin sheds in the middle of nowhere with a somewhat large fenced off area next to them.

 _Is he serious?_

As it turned out, he was, setting the vehicle down with the familiarity of someone who'd done it dozens of times.

Sajjan dumped a medium sized black sack on her lap.

"You'll need that."

She gave him a concerned look before wordlessly opening it. Inside was an Omer Science Personnel protective mask, one that those who worked in light Kojima contaminated environments wore.

Low-density particles couldn't penetrate materials like skin or even light clothing, but if inhaled there was a risk of it causing damage to the more vulnerable and delicate parts of the human body.

However in areas with high-density particle concentrations or worse, actively charged fields like that of Primal Armour, there was no level of personal protection available to civilians. The fully enclosed powered armour that she had used as part of Rayleonard's special forces was the only thing that immediately came to mind.

Just before putting the mask on, she stopped and looked at Sajjan. He didn't have a mask on and there was no bag on his lap.

"Aren't you going to…?"

He shrugged.

"Why bother, these concentration levels won't make me any worse off."

He had a point, but it still felt weird.

Once she had the mask on she breathed in deep to engage the filters, there was a brief moment where a vacuum held before it gave way and air flowed in.

The inescapable metallic tang of filtered air confirming that it was working.

"Alright, I'm good." Alicia said, the mask muffling her voice a little. With that, Sajjan popped the doors and both of them clambered out. Through the mask's visor, she could see swirls of dust as wind kicked up filthy clouds of contaminated grit and earth.

The filter of the mask hissed and huffed as it worked to keep aforementioned filth out of her lungs. Sajjan apparently wasn't too affected but did make a beeline for the collection of sheds.

She followed him in soon after, pausing at the bizarre sight before her.

There was nothing here.

The sheds were interconnected to make a slightly larger interior with the external appearance of being a few smaller buildings. While it appeared initially empty, after her eyes adjusted to the dark a little, she saw that there was what looked like an old service elevator in the very centre of the open space.

It was just a metal plate ringed with worn caution tape and a single yellow handrail that had a tiny control panel mounted to it.

Sajjan was already on the platform when she'd walked in, leaving her little alternative but to stand on it next to him when he pushed one of the buttons.

With a groan equaling that of an old man trying to get out of a high back chair, it slowly creeped downwards, a pair of sliding blast doors sealing them in above their heads.

"You can take that off now, this area and beyond is hermetically sealed."

He tapped on the side of the mask as he said this, electing a glare from Alicia as she pulled it off her face.

"Ok, spill, where the hell are we? I've kept from asking for this long but now we're going underground to god knows where in the middle of the desert."

"Working for the League isn't all I've been doing since I became a Lynx. I needed a project, something to keep me sane through all the killing and… well dying. This was my escape, a place to get away from it all for awhile."

"A project…?"

She didn't get to question him further on it as they reached the bottom, a chain link safety grate between them and a well lit room that looked a good hundred or so square metres if not more.

Sajjan lifted the gate until it hit the ceiling and stayed there, he walked forwards a few steps before calling out to some unseen person.

"Kostya! Where are you? I've got a guest."

Alicia didn't have to wait long before the sound of something crashing over was followed by an old man with wispy grey hair and tanned leathery skin strolled around the corner of the large room, looking down the uncovered rock corridor they stood in.

"Ah, Sajjan, I was wondering when you'd next visit. I just finished some of the last tests o-"

He spoke with a heavy Russian accent but was cut short by Sajjan's raised hand.

"That's why we're both here actually. Alicia, this is Kostya, he's been helping me with my project for the last year or so, he's wanted by the League so he's taken to living here while he works to stay under their radar so to speak. Kostya, this is Alicia, our little project actually belongs to her funnily enough."

"Ahhh, I see, so it's hers? I guess we'd best get the grand tour started then. Alicia, it's nice to meet you."

Alicia was still processing the fact that apparently some scraggly old Russian man had been roaming around in Sajjan's secret bunker working on a mysterious project that she'd been repeatedly told belonged to her, but not told what it was.

"Uh, thank you Kostya… Nice to meet you too."

Sajjan strode forwards into the main room, Alicia following closely behind, looking all over the room instinctively.

"Woah."

It was hard to not be impressed. While it was a chaotic mess, it was obvious that a lot of work had gone into making this place functional both as a living space and also some kind of work space.

There were dozens upon dozens of old paper files piled up high in stacks around the room and on desks, what looked like a custom server farm built into a disintegrating cabinet. Computers of every sort and age were running alongside each other, an incomprehensible slew of readouts, spreadsheets and data streams all running in tandem.

"What is all this? The hell have you two been doing down here?"

Kostya answered first.

"Data mining. We've been digging into the League's digital vaults for months now, trying to get every single shred of information we can. Sajjan wants to try and use any secrets or controversies we find to break public opinion of the League. We've found a handful so far, but not enough to incite the level of rebellion we're looking for."

"I've got a few files I've kept from prior to the League's foundation but I doubt it'll be enough to tip the scales significantly."

"No, anything we can use against them would be appreciated. It seems like you're a worthwhile friend of Sajjan's, I'm glad he isn't on his own up there." He turned to a pair of old and dirty blast doors nearly twice the height of all of them. You could see rust eating into parts and virtually smell the oil stains around the base where it was in contact with the floor. "Well there's not much to see in here, I guess it's time to move to the main event. I'll give you the honors Sajjan."

Kostya backed off to the side of the door while Sajjan went to the other where the almost broken looking control panel was placed on the wall.

Before his hand completely pressed in the large button on the panel, he stopped and looked at Alicia.

"Perhaps, calling it something that belongs to you was misleading, I think it would be more accurate to call it your inheritance."

Before she had a chance to even ponder such a phrase, he completely pressed the button with a loud clack, a second later the enormous blast door slid upwards with a near deafening grinding that resounded through every bone in her body.

What it revealed, was absolute darkness. An impenetrable abyss that not even the light from the room they stood in could pierce.

Sajjan gestured for her to enter. She hesitated trying to guess at what he was playing at, something he didn't often have the energy or mood for, but stood a few steps into the darkness.

Then the lights turned on, dazzling her while her eyes took their time to adapt to the massive change in brightness.

But once she looked ahead again, she couldn't look away, no matter how bright the light. The room she stood in was a makeshift hangar, an old transporter gantry was being used as the holding mechanism, supported by roughly mounted girders bolted to the walls.

It was the object in the gantry that she couldn't grasp, couldn't comprehend. She never would have believed Sajjan in a million years if he'd told her that he'd kept this hidden under a desert in the middle of nowhere.

She knew its name all too well.

Before her, in all its imperfect perfection, shining in the light like obsidian glass, stood a jet black 03-AALIYAH frame Armored Core.

Supplice.

Speechless didn't even begin to cover how she felt. Alicia wasn't sure how many more revelations like this she could take in a single day.

She was opening and closing her mouth but the words weren't coming out. Supplice had been almost completely destroyed even before it fell over 5 kilometres from the Ark's deck by Thermidor's hand.

But in it's current state, it looked practically brand new besides some armour plates that were somewhat battered and scuffed. If you looked carefully you could see the faint, accumulated damage from its uncountable battles.

Wear on the underlying frame's joints, dents in hydraulic cylinders, every part of it was a story left untold.

All stories that had her brother had created for better or worse.

"I still have trouble believing it's the real thing myself at times. When I found it shortly after I stumbled across his grave and Havok, I thought it would be irreparable. As it turned out, there were more 03-AALIYAH parts on the black market than I thought, all dirt cheap too as most people didn't know the frame as well as your brother did. Of course, Supplice is no ordinary AALIYAH frame AC, if anything, restoring the tuning that Rayleonard did took the longest. Without that, I think Berlioz would have run this poor machine into the ground long before he died."

It took a moment, but she finally found her voice.

"It was his burden, his curse, a weight he could never escape. But he accepted it, he carried it until he fell, even managed to use that weight as a weapon in those final moments. Perhaps that's why, despite everything Rayleonard did to Berlioz, I can't feel any animosity to this machine. It does represent his struggle, his pain, his loss, but also his strength and the lengths he went to in protecting what he loved."

She walked forwards until she was at the railing that surrounded the gantry, wishing that she could get close enough to reach out and touch the metal.

"Is the cockpit accessible?"

Alicia asked this fearing the worse, that it'd be still trashed, but the face Sajjan made was ambiguous at best.

"It is… I've got it functional, replaced the damaged displays and control systems but…"

"But what, Sajjan?"

She couldn't tell if it was shame or discomfort that she saw from him as he turned away from her before speaking.

"I haven't had a chance to clean it out, you might not want to see it."

"I appreciate the thought, but I don't care. There was nothing clean about how he died. Nothing to gain in prettying it up for me."

There was a flash of sadness across Sajjan's face, but he nodded in the direction of a one person service lift that ran up the side of the gantry.

In keeping with the theme of everything in Sajjan's base, it was loud and slow. But once at the top, she walked along the thin metal platform until she reached the lip where she was supposed to drop down once the cockpit was open.

There was a slight issue though.

"Sajjan!" She shouted down, "There's no panel on the gantry for the cockpit access? How do I get in?"

"You'll have to do it directly, use the emergency control under the upper core plating near the neck!"

With that information, she lowered herself down onto the upper part of Supplice's core. The armour panel underneath her was clearly a replacement part as it looked far newer than the armour that covered the shoulder attached to it.

Pushing aside the sensation of awe she felt literally standing on the AC her brother used, she clambered on hands and knees over to the gap in the armour between the head and the core. Just like Sajjan said, reaching under the armour where it was slightly raised above the frame, there was a control box with a single button that when pressed resulted in the head next to her hissing as the seal broke and it lifted away, revealing the cockpit below.

There was… A stale smell.

She recognised it, it was familiar and a reminder of days gone by.

The smell of dried blood and decay.

A scent synonymous with death.

That clinging odor in her nostrils sent a deep, violent chill through the core of her very being. The knowledge that this was the very exact place that Berlioz died.

With that thought in mind, she lowered herself gently into the cockpit.

It was dark, even with the light filtering in through the gap left by the cockpit entrance she couldn't see much. Didn't help that the cockpit was painfully small and cramped, nothing like the one in Whiplash, that said, her size did give her an advantage for once.

Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she turned on the flashlight and looked around.

Red.

Dull, oxidised, caked in layers across the cockpit floor and walls where parts hadn't been replaced, on several secondary monitors it was splattered across them. Even looking up at the underside of the cockpit hatch, there were tiny black flecks.

Doing her best to turn around in the small cramped space, she pointed the light at the seat.

If the sight she had just seen was unsettling, then the seat under her light was outright horrifying.

The very first thing she noticed was the enormous chunk missing from the right hand side of the chair, like something had cleaved through it pretty much to the halfway point. She must have missed whatever caused this as all she saw was Supplice being dragged, held up and then thrown over the edge.

It went without saying that the seat was for the most part completely ruined with stains from blood. Soaked in, dried to the point of permeating every fibre it came into contact with.

There was every chance that she was violating every common hygiene rule and regulation under the sun by considering the thought in her head, but in this instant, it just felt right.

She ever so slowly, as if it was made of glass about to crack, lowered herself into the seat.

 _This is where he died._

In an act of brutal violence, his life was taken. No second chances, no miracle recovery. He died and was buried at the place she'd been barely an hour ago.

But sitting in his place, right in the seat he'd spent years fighting and killing in, all to keep her safe? It felt so cruel.

"You alright in there?"

Sajjan's voice snapped her back to reality. He sounded close, probably on the gantry by Supplice's head, just out of sight.

"Yeah… Does the generator run? I mean does it at least turn on?"

"That was probably the most difficult part to replace as Supplice didn't use a regular 03-AALIYAH/G generator, that's why the cockpit might seem a little cramped. It was modified to mount an external Kojima module as this was made before pure Kojima generators like the ones used in NEXTs became commonplace. I had to do a lot of work on it but I managed to cram an Omer GN-LAHIRE generator into it. Not only does it run, but it'll have more thruster power and usage to work with along with a PA field to match any NEXT. The system start up procedure should be roughly the same as your NEXT."

Using the light on her phone, she checked the usual spots and quickly located the switchboard that would engage the generator and all electrical systems.

A moment of silence passed, in which Alicia became slightly concerned that something had gone wrong, but just as the thought crossed her mind, there was a loud clunk from behind her and the familiar hum of a generator spooling up rang out behind her.

The interior lighting flickered to life and monitors blinked as the OS booted and ran diagnostic checks. Streams of information ran like lightning down every screen.

It lasted only a few seconds before the main display showed the feed from Supplice's optics.

"All working?"

Sajjan asked from above.

"Looks like it. Main display is up and running, secondaries are booting now. FCS is online, the radiator and generator are both running at 100% efficiency, communication systems are online, auxiliary power is functional. Motor and Hydraulic function are confirmed, all thrusters showing green across the board. Looks like everything is good from here, no warnings or cautions showing up."

She reached down to grasp the control arms that were hanging slack near the base of the seat but the feeling of something lumpy, metallic and cold touching her left hand caught her attention.

"The hell is…"

Looking down at the arm, there was something hanging from the end where the handgrip and controls were. A metal link strap with a bulbous section at the bottom.

An old wrist watch.

She reached down again and lifted it off the control arm. It's weight surprising her for a moment.

It was worn to the point that the silver plating had come off the inside, nicks and scratches covered every edge and surface. Under the light, she could see where the metal had been stained by the same crimson that coated almost everything inside the cockpit. Turning it over in her hands, the glass covering the face and hands was cracked. A single fracture running from one side almost to the other where it split into a tiny spiderweb of lines scattering the light that hit it.

As it went without saying, the hands had stopped a long time ago, although she didn't know if it broke during the fall of the Ark or sometime before that.

She never believed that he'd have kept it this long, through everything. If anyone had doubted his resolve, his cause, she held the proof in her hand.

There was an undeniable tightness in her chest and in her throat. A painful lump growing, making it hard to breathe properly as her eyes began to sting.

But she pushed it back down and wiped her eyes. No time for sentimentality, not yet.

Putting her hand through the strap, she closed the clasp and felt the weight of it on her own wrist. It carried far more than the mere metal and glass it was made of. All of this did.

The sound of footsteps above her caught her attention, just as Sajjan's head poked over the cockpit entrance.

"So, what do you think? If you don't want it then I'm sure there's someone else who'd be happy to take it off my hands."

Alicia gave a quiet chuckle at that.

"No that won't be happening. No one else could possibly bear the responsibility."

"The responsibility?"

"Think about what this AC represents. Everything it and its pilot did. The sins and atrocities he committed. Thousands upon thousands of lives taken, not for any cause, ideology or belief in a greater good, they were all taken for me. Every person he killed was to keep me breathing for another day."

"Do you think it's fair to carry all that yourself?"

"I don't think fair comes into it. Was it fair that he was forced into service he couldn't question? I don't have a lot to remember my brother by, but if this is all I have, I'll cherish it until the day I die. No one else can take that from me. His legacy is, just like you said, my inheritance."

She reached down and gripped the controls, bringing them up to an idle position. The watch she gave Berlioz hanging somewhat loose from her wrist, clinking as the links flexed.

"Supplice… Do you know what it means?"

She asked Sajjan.

"No, I wasn't aware it meant anything specific."

"It's French, it means torture, misery, suffering. Even in its very name this machine, it unknowingly told everyone what he was enduring just by hearing it. But I want to turn the tables. If it was suffering for Berlioz, I want it to be suffering for the enemy, no matter who that may be. I can think of no better retribution, than to use the thing they tortured my brother with, to kill every single League bastard I can find."


	10. Act 2: Ch 9: Vanguard

Former Metropolitan Detroit, Northern District

14:25

21/01/2110

If there was one thing I could say for certain, I would never fail to appreciate the strength and protection that came with the 00-XA Powered Armour. I'd watched squad members take half a magazine of rifle ammo to the chest without flinching, grenades explode barely metres away with no effect.

It made you feel invincible.

You could run faster and jump higher than any regular soldier, you could break bone and twist metal with a single hand. This was the advantage and privilege given to those in Rayleonard's Special Operations Forces. The regular ballistic vest with its various pouches, holsters and trimmings was worn over the top of it otherwise you'd be fast running out of ammunition and supplies.

That level of appreciation became just a little bit stronger, when an enemy round slammed into my shoulder. The copper-jacketed lead bullet from my target's archaic early 21st century rifle shattered into pieces against the hardened armour plate.

With next to no time between the impact of his round, my rifle was sighted over his chest and I squeezed the trigger twice, watching as fresh crimson blossomed through his thin magazine carrier.

"Target down, moving to confirm kill"

After speaking to the CO of the mechanised convoy, under the callsign Viper, that our squad, under the callsign Apex, had been tasked to support, I got up from my temporary position behind an old rusted car and walked over to the lump of concrete the militiaman had been using as cover.

"Apex-5 this is Viper Actual, do you need any covering fire?"

The CO's voice wavered slightly as he came over the small helmet speaker next to my ear. He was currently standing turned out of a tracked IFV turret, providing improved visibility for the vehicle at the cost of exposing himself to enemy fire.

There were plenty of methods of viewing the outside from the safety of the armoured hull, but none were as flexible as a pair of eyeballs up top.

"Negative, Viper Actual. If there's anything out there that can hurt me, I'll be dead before you or your men can fire a single round."

There was no rush, no real concern. Once people learned we were in the area they tended to clear out fairly quickly.

It didn't take me long to make it to the enemy's position, I could see a faint red spray across his cover before I even got there. But if you didn't confirm a kill, it could come back to bite you.

Thankfully, the body behind the concrete wouldn't be doing much besides decomposing. Just as I'd seen, one round had passed through his chest and the second entered just below his neck.

He wasn't going to get up from that.

I turned to the convoy and waved them forward, the rumble of engines rang out, the convoy spewing thick clouds of black smoke from their exhaust as it gradually rolled towards her.

Switching from the convoy CO's channel to my own, I aired a thought that crossed my mind.

"Apex Actual, this is Apex-5, how the fuck has Rayleonard gotten this far with muck coughing machines like this?"

The reply was less than genuine, even through the thick spanish accent I could hear the sarcasm dripping from every word.

"Apex-5, how dare you question the grand military might of our glorious Corporation, I ought to court-martial you right here and now."

Several soldiers were walking alongside the convoy now, having disembarked from their warm protective IFVs and APCs, they now trudged slowly forwards, matching the pace of their vehicles with rifles twitching from side to side, up and down, searching relentlessly for any threats.

A figure wearing the same powered armour that I was strode forwards, outpacing everything else just by walking until they were a short distance away. My armour's HUD had already identified them as Major Alvarez, the leader of the small team stuck babysitting the convoy behind us.

"Anything up ahead, Hutchinson?" His voice rang out through his helmet instead of over the com' channel now that we were standing next to each other.

"No Sir, there was this sorry piece of work and nothing else as far as I can see."

"I'm glad to hear that, I'm pairing you with Lt. Cole to do some recon down a sidestreet. UAVs overhead are spotting movement a kilometre or so out on our flanks and I wanna know what's going on over there."

I scanned my eyes slowly over the street ahead, only absolute silent stillness coming back at me. Nothing moved, nothing breathed. It was hard to imagine that there was any activity nearby.

But I didn't have the luxury of turning down orders.

"Understood, I'll report the moment we find anything, Sir."

#####

The pair of us moved low and fast through the ground floor of a blown out business tower block. Skittering around like unwanted vermin, between lumps of rubble, under fallen support beams and across metal grating, we approached the next street, but not before stopping shy of the weak, murky light filtering in towards us.

While I braced my rifle against what looked like a set of seats bolted to the floor and broken in half by falling pieces of the building, Lt. Cole's helmet visor lifted as he pulled out a large thermal rangefinder that doubled as a set of expensive binoculars.

"Anything?" I asked, using the sight on my rifle as I tracked it from side to side.

"There's… Something? I mean I can see heat signatures but I have no idea what they are."

"Our position is behind us, so whatever it is, it's likely hostile, or we've got an unregistered faction operating in the area."

Cole lowered the rangefinder, paused for a moment before speaking again.

"Apex Actual this is Apex-4, we've got suspected enemy movement in the area but are unable to confirm composition or strength."

I heard him twice, like an echo, as he was right next to me but also coming in over my helmet speaker.

"Apex-5 this is Apex Actual, push up to their position and confirm composition and strength. Vague assumptions get people killed, clarify all information before reporting back. Understood?"

"Copy that, Apex-5 out."

Cole's head turned to me.

"I guess we gotta take a closer look then."

I nodded and hefted my rifle from the firing point I'd made and moved around him while he put the rangefinder back in its bag.

Before I had even made it outside, he was behind me, his own rifle scanning to my left as we broke out of cover, exiting onto the street.

The sky was grey, thick clouds pregnant with the threat of a downpour. If I'd taken my helmet off, I'm sure I could have smelt it in the air.

In the regular army, I had dreaded fighting in rainstorms. It was probably one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my life, besides being shot. Now, in hermetically sealed armour, I could be completely submerged for up to 20 minutes with no problem. Technically I could be underwater indefinitely, but the human body usually ceased functioning when deprived of oxygen.

Cole and I crawled into a deep crater that was dug into the street off to the side slightly, likely created by a large calibre cannon from a tank or MT.

We hugged the side closest to the heat signatures that Cole had spotted earlier while he rummaged around for the rangefinder again.

"Keep your head down when you look over, we don't want to get spotted early."

"Not getting spotted at all would be preferable."

He held the rangefinder up, his visor lifting again as he shimmied up the crater side, his rifle hanging, or more accurately dragging along the ground, from the one point sling integrated into the armour we wore.

"Now," he muttered under his breath, "Let's see wh-"

I was getting ready to peak over the crater lip with him when I turned to see why he'd stopped speaking.

The reason was obvious, along with the rangefinder and helmet, his head had been utterly obliterated. A grisly mess of pink brain matter, skull fragments and the remnants of his helmet were sprayed across both myself and the crater.

I had maybe a quarter of a second to process this when the opposite side of the crater and the surrounding ground was suddenly ripped up by autocannon fire, the deep rumble that I immediately recognised as the twin barreled machine gun of a GBN-02 MT.

That said, it's distinct register was almost completely drowned out by a chorus of automatic weapon fire, what sounded like an entire platoon of soldiers opened up on my position.

My armour could take the small arms fire from the infantry but the MT currently hammering the spot a few metres from my head was the genuine threat.

Opening up a small cylindrical pouch on my vest I removed a somewhat long, narrow item that would hopefully be a step towards removing that threat.

It was a rocket assisted 40mm HEAT grenade, a small package with an armour-piercing punch. I had six of these on my vest, with careful placement, it should be enough to cripple, if not outright disable the machine pinning me down.

Rolling onto my back, I opened the breach of the grenade launcher mounted underneath my rifle and slide the grenade into the barrel, pulling both back closed to arm it.

I paused for a brief moment, slowing my breathing and letting my muscles relax despite the carnage around me.

If you panic in combat, you die. I'd seen it happen too many times, almost been on the receiving end of such an aesop as well. Perhaps I should have shown a little more concern at the fact I was so easily slipping into calm whilst covered in a thin spray of gore and being shot at.

Time for such thinking wasn't found on the battlefield though, if you wanted to stay alive you got good at killing and pushing such thoughts to a place you wouldn't visit too often.

With my finger over the trigger, I rolled onto my stomach and listened for the crucial lull in the MT's fire.

It came a second later, and in that moment, I took a knee in the crater, trying to expose myself as little as possible. It wasn't hard to spot the lumbering machine about 200m down the road, almost beginning to loom over me.

A couple of rifle calibre rounds crashed into me, but shrugged them off focusing on lining the small secondary sight for the grenade launcher over the MT's centre of mass.

With a squeeze of the trigger, the small projectile hurtled out of the barrel, it's tiny rocket motor pushing it through the air to its target in a fraction of a second. Not quite as fast as a bullet, but fast enough that there was no chance of dodging it.

The grenade shell slammed square into the chest of the Gibbon, staggering the machine long enough for me to smoothly reload the launcher with another round, firing it off to impact in the same location.

I almost felt glee as I watched the explosive sail on target, the shaped charge blasting through the weakened armour plate.

With a groan, it keeled over backwards with a thundering crash.

I'd hoped that losing their strongest asset would cause the infantry in the area to rout and fall back, but unfortunately, the opposite happened. They redoubled their onslaught.

With the threat of the MT gone, I was free to take their fire and engage them, but if they overrun me with sheer numbers and volume of fire, I'd be in trouble.

I opened the com' channel to my CO.

"Apex Actual this is Apex-5, Apex-4 is down, I have engaged the enemy force, requesting reinforcements!"

Nothing came back over the channel, just static.

"Apex Actual this is Apex-5, do you copy?!"

Still nothing.

 _Fucking great._

If I had any chance of getting out of this alive, it would be over the body of everyone trying to kill me.

That's exactly what I proceeded to do, lining up the sight of my rifle over anything that resembled a target, pumping round after round into them. No time to confirm kills here, it was just a matter of making sure nothing was moving by the time this was over.

It almost reminded me of some training exercise we'd done a few months back, testing us on our ability to combat numerous enemies attacking from multiple angles. The difference was that back then the simulation targets could kill us, no one here had anything that could do more than scratch my armour.

But I was beginning to realise that the enemy onslaught wasn't ending or even thinning out. Makeshift armoured personnel carriers, trucks with metal plates bolted onto them, were starting to pull up, disgorging more militia fighters.

I fired off a grenade at one such truck, the vehicle rolling over from the impact, spewing flames from the engine and passenger compartment.

 _It's not enough…_

I crouched low, patting myself down, taking inventory.

 _Three magazines, three underbarrel grenades, one hand grenade, my sidearm with five magazines and my knife._

I had to make it all count.

I straightened up just in time to spot something far down the street advancing on my position. Make that, several somethings.

 _More MTs…_

This situation was going from bad to worse. I was low on ammo, cut off from my squad, the convoy and now had more armour heading my way than I could possibly deal with.

But if I'd come to believe in anything since I started this godforsaken mission to save my brother, it was that even if you lose your legs, you can still crawl through hell.

So I shouldered my rifle and fired. Again and again, methodically just as before, firing off all my remaining grenades at the advancing MTs, managing to bring one down before two others replaced it, their boxy machine gun arms blazing away, filling the air with debris and dust.

Survive by any means necessary. That was the only thing going through my head.

I dropped the now empty and useless rifle, letting it hang from the sling mount as I ripped my sidearm from the holster on my hip.

It didn't have nearly the same range or stopping power, but it sure worked against guys not wearing body armour.

They were getting bolder, pushing closer to her position, one even charged at me, rifle raised like a club. He didn't make it far.

Every 10 seconds they claimed another metre closer, I could only drop so many targets in a short space of time, not to mention needing to reload.

It was in such a space of time as I was dropping a magazine from my sidearm that the MTs down the road decided to open up on me, forcing me to lay with my back against the crater's inside.

Another man charged the crater, this time with a bayonet fixed to his rifle. Two rounds to the chest cut his moment of bravery short.

Was this it?

Pinned down in some ditch, waiting to die?

Some small, weak part of me almost believed that. Believed that I was going to fail, dying here before I could accomplish what I set out to do all those years ago.

So I smothered it. I snuffed out, killed the frail part of my heart that allowed such weakness to exist.

If I was going to die here, I would take as many of these fuckers with me.

I took the hand grenade off my vest, gripping it tightly in my left hand, my side arm in the other.

My armour could take the grenade blast even if it detonated in my hand. There was nothing to lose by making sure I was as close to as many of them when it went off before the MT's caught me.

I took a long, deep breath, letting it flow out of my lungs before I stood up, bolt upright, ready to face death.

At precisely that moment, the building to my right exploded outwards, completely obscuring the entire street.

I thought for a moment that somehow the enemy had brought in a tank to kill me which was both impressive and flattering in its own fucked up way.

The blast had knocked me down flat on my back in the centre of the crater, I'd managed to keep a grip on my sidearm but the grenade had vanished, likely somewhere just outside the crater.

I couldn't see it, but I could hear, and even feel two alternating sets of deep, rhythmic booming associated with large-calibre autocannons. Their muzzle flashes lighting up the dust like lightning in a stormcloud.

The dust started to settle as I stood up, a handful of militia were scrambling around trying to find cover. Their previous focused effort to kill me utterly abandoned in the chaos of the explosion.

I took two of them out as they ran.

Walking up the crater side and over the lip, I stood, staring forwards, trying to work out what exactly had happened.

My heart stopped beating when it broke through the thinning cloud of grit and sand.

A glistening jet black 03-AALIYAH frame Armored Core that could have only belonged to one person, the very person I'd set out to save.

The com' channel hissed in my ear, the jamming signal obviously cleared now. The low, quiet but utterly unforgettable voice of my brother came through.

"Lieutenant, I've got it from here, you should get back to the convoy."

Of course as a member of Rayleonard's special forces, my name wasn't available on regular friend-or-foe identification networks, all he'd be able to see is my rank and the squad I was attached to.

I had to fight it, the urge to yell out to him, to rip my helmet off and show him my face so he could see I was ok, that he'd know I was alright. It was killing me. Knowing that he was so close, close enough that I could almost reach out and touch him.

But now wasn't the time. I didn't have enough influence to mount a rescue and Berlioz was still crushed under the thumb of Victor.

Instead, I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat, nodded to the machine staring down at me and walked away, breaking into a full sprint.

I ran and didn't look back, because if I did…?

I'd never be able to stop myself.


	11. Act 2: Ch 10: Creeping Shadows

Queenslance, Personal Quarters

01:35

28/07/2114

Lilium had been sound asleep, snoring lightly right up until the point that the small computer on the other side of her room began chiming loudly at her.

"Mmph? Huh?"

She lifted her face out of the pillow she'd just been drooling into and swung her head to face in the direction of the computer's monitor. However, through the haze of sleep it was utterly impossible for her to discern what it was trying to tell her.

With a groan that rang out louder than the chiming which woke her, she kicked the thin bedsheet off of her, swinging her legs over the edge of the mattress before stretching and standing up.

"8 hour mission yesterday, no dinner, 3 hours of fucking sleep, this better be good or I'm gonna kill whoever woke me up." She muttered this to herself as she sluggishly staggered across the room.

Rubbing her eyes to try and cope with the brightness, she squinted at the screen, flicking through various screens and windows to get to her inbox where a message from Collard was blinking at her.

That woke her up in an instant. If it was from Collard, it was likely a mission request.

She opened the message and began to read, taking in as much detail as possible.

' _Illegal Activity in Eastern Regions'_

' _Lynx, your orders are as follows._

 _Line Ark forces have been seen using large transport convoys to move weapons and explosives between their forward bases and conflict zones where they have engaged the League. Intelligence has confirmed that one such convoy is due to move later today. You are to intercept and destroy the convoy. Escorting forces are suspected to be light armoured vehicles, MTs and allsorted infantry. These are also to be considered targets for elimination. Report to the supercarrier BFFN Resilience at the assigned time for your transporter.'_

' _Mission Location: Eastern Wastelands_

 _Mission Objective: Destroy Line Ark Convoy and Escorts_

 _Assistance: N/A_

 _Mission Time/Date: 03:40/28-07-2114'_

A grin spread across her face, any vestige of tiredness blown away by the sheer excitement that flowed through her entire being.

 _Another mission? So soon?!_

She usually only got a mission a week, two at the very most and spaced apart by several days. To have another turn up barely hours later was an entirely new occurrence.

A celebration would be order, definitely.

Rushing over to her closet resulted only in her tripping over her boots in the room barely lit by the computer display. She cursed under her breath while rolling on the floor cradling her stubbed toe.

The pain was momentary however, rapidly replaced by the recollection that she had to get ready as fast as possible. The mission start time was soon, if she didn't turn up on time it would be scrubbed and she'd get a mark against her name in the Collard logs.

A moment later, Lilium had crammed herself into a jumpsuit and was about to put her boots on when her effort to bend down to her feet while sitting on the bed came to an abrupt halt.

"Urk… I forgot."

She'd had exactly the same problem yesterday. A growth spurt had caught her in the last few weeks and her jumpsuits no longer fit properly, limiting the extremes of her mobility. While it was unlikely she'd be able to rip the material, it wasn't exactly comfortable. She'd have to make a note of asking for a new set.

Once she'd managed to get the rest of her gear on, including reinforced gloves, hip holster, sidearm and magazines, she turned off the computer and left the room, locking it behind her.

It was a short trip to the helipad closest to her, almost directly above her quarters. Light Infantry Dropships designed by GAE but manufactured by BFF were used to shuttle personnel and small amounts of supplies between ships of the 1st Fleet. Several could be seen throughout the day zipping back and forth, leap frogging to and fro.

One such dropship peeled away from the pad as she approached, leaving the superstructure behind for the cool pre-dawn air. A gentle breeze rolled over her like the waves they all travelled across. The refreshing, familiar sea salt scent was carried on it, filling her head with nothing but thoughts of the ocean.

 _No no no! I don't have time to be all romantic about the sea! I've got terrorists to fight!_

Doing her best to move with confidence despite her somewhat diminutive frame, she strode over to the deck hand wearing a high-visibility jumpsuit and jacket with a marshalling wand in each hand.

"I need to get to the _Resilience_ as soon as possible, when's the next ride there?" She asked, raising her voice a little to help it carry over the ambient noise of the fleet.

The man nodded and let go of one of his wands, letting it hand from a wrist strap while he fished a portable terminal from inside his jacket. He flicked around on it a few times before stopping and reading it.

"You're in luck, next dropship coming in is going straight there. ETA is around 5 to 10 minutes tops."

"Alright, thank you!"

She moved to the edge of the helipad and sure enough about 5 minutes later, the distant roar of jet turbines began to ring out to her right.

It flew over head before banking sharply and pulling into a tight turn, its adjustable vector nozzles twitching and shifting to bring it to a hover just over the pad before settling down on a set of landing gear.

Before long, she was buckled in between several crates of processed food packets and what looked like a rack of anti-aircraft gun barrels. Excitement offsetting any acknowledgement of her somewhat bizarre position.

The flight, as expected, was short. Barely a ten minute hop from the fleet centre to one of the supercarriers that were part of the inner defensive ring. Simultaneously protecting and in need of protection themselves.

It was there that Lilium's NEXT was stored. BFF had made an arrangement with the League and Collard to ensure that she had access to it at all times considering she was at sea constantly.

The second she stepped off the dropship ramp, someone, also in a high-vis jumpsuit, came over to usher her below decks, clearly having been informed ahead of time that she would be arriving.

Ten minutes flew by and after a handful of ordnance safety checks, she was in the cockpit of her NEXT, being lifted up to the flight deck by an enormous lifting platform.

The war machine placed under her control, Ambient, was an amalgamation of all of BFF's latest and greatest bleeding-edge technology, wrapped in their virtually brand new 063AN frame.

 _This thing makes me feel invincible, at least… When I get it started…_

A few moments of fumbling with unfamiliar switch boards and multi-function displays, the primary generator hummed to life behind her, bringing the main display online as well as the secondaries that weren't powered by the APU.

Said display now showed a view from above the supercarrier's flight deck, the ship's superstructure ahead of her and sitting on the deck was a transporter being hooked up to the magnetic catapult.

The plane was enormous, even on the colossal deck of the ship. If it wasn't assisted during take off, it'd never gain enough lift and fall off the end instead of flying.

Not exactly a thought she wanted to have considering she was about to be loaded into the back of it.

Moving Ambient forwards, with a small creeping grin on her face, Lilium made her way towards the rear of the transporter.

#####

06:05

28/07/2114

Despite the earlier burst of energy she'd had, Lilium proceeded to fall asleep in the NEXT's cockpit virtually the moment they left the fleet's airspace. Managing to remain unconscious for the majority of the flight, she was now surrounded by several empty meal bar wrappers and at least 2 water bottles drained of their contents.

Currently free of the seat harness, she leaned down to scoop the trash up and stuff it into a small box mounted to the seat frame. Garbage flying around in the middle of combat was not conducive to focusing on what you were trying to do.

She had to wonder, why were Line Ark being so bold about this? Moving weapons and equipment along regular routes was just asking to get jumped. Part of her thought it was a ruse and the convoy was a decoy for something else. Perhaps Line Ark were disguising it and the convoy really held secrets?

The thought was tantalising, but digging for mysteries wasn't going to help her kill the bad guys. That was her job and task at the end of the day.

The more terrorists she put in the ground the safer the world would be. They could go around trying to harm innocent people and bring disorder to the world that the League had created, but so long as she was around, they wouldn't get far with that plan.

Reaching over to a small panel, she paused for a second, before flicking a switch, grinning when the green com' channel light blinked on.

"Hey guys, what's the ETA on the drop? I'm itching to get into this fight so you better not keep me waiting." She wasn't joking either, her legs were bouncing at this point.

There was a short pause before the reply came back.

"Uhhh, ETA is… inconclusive? We're getting some weird interference on our instruments, can't get a solid lock on our position."

"What do you mean you can't get a lock, how the hell do you lose our own position?"

"I don't- Caston check that readin- Wait one, Lynx…"

Lilium's heart was beating faster now, adrenaline rushing through her veins.

"Guys what the fuck is going-"

"Lynx, brace for evasive maneuvers! We're dropping you now, you gotta go a-"

That was the last she heard from the transporter pilots as a shudder rolled through the plane and her body, despite being in Ambient's cockpit. Gravity began to shift sideways and forwards.

The transporter wasn't flying straight anymore. Hell it probably wasn't even technically 'flying' anymore.

Panic was overridden by hundreds of training hours. She reached over to a secondary monitor, switching to an auxiliary screen that had emergency commands. According to it, the transporter rear hatch was open but the deployment sequence was still in idle.

She hit the corresponding button to begin the sequence from inside the NEXT, the immediate rumble from the gantry shifting forwards, straining somewhat against the pull of the Earth.

They weren't in a dive yet, but they were losing altitude fast.

The second the gantry reached the end of the cargo hold and released its grasp on Ambient, Lilium fired it's over boost, launching her out of the back of the transporter.

Twisting Ambient in mid air, she could now see that the majority of the transporter's front section, including the cockpit had been almost completely blown away.

A streak of smoke closed in on it almost too fast for her to follow before it slammed into the transporter, the following explosion large enough to rip the entire right wing off.

She was stunned.

Not once had anything like this happened on any of her other missions. The drop was always the smoothest part of the entire process. Now she was on the backfoot alright and both the pilot and co-pilot were dead.

"They weren't even supposed to be in any danger and Line Ark killed them anyway, goddamn scum!"

She hurtled towards the ground, slamming into it just short of the maximum tolerance for her NEXT's weight and leg strength, the machine's limbs loudly protesting against such treatment.

The relatively flat ground gave her as much visibility as possible, the dust kicked up from the convoy was silhouetting them against the cliff edge they hugged, likely for cover.

Not that it'd save them from her.

Fixing her left hand rifle to a mounting clasp on the side of Ambient's leg, she knelt down on one knee and used her now free hand to support the hefty, bulky looking rifle that looked rather unlike BFF's usual line up of elegant, minimalist weaponry.

Lilium engaged Ambient's PA before manipulating the NEXT's FCS to accept input from the optics and firing computer built into the rifle, bringing up a second window superimposed over the primary feed from the NEXT's head.

It gave the impression of looking down the sight of the rifle without having to try and awkwardly line up the weapon physically. A digital pseudo-scope.

The rifle's rangefinder marked the convoy at roughly three and a half kilometres away, well within its range.

Focusing the rifle optic, she could now actually make out individual targets and identify them.

"What the fuck, that's a hell of a lot more than the brief suggested?" She muttered to herself, centering the rifle's sight over the lead vehicle in the convoy, a 6x6 wheeled vehicle with a small turret.

The crosshair blinked red, and she squeezed the trigger.

What came out of the rifle's barrel wasn't a shell or bullet, but a blinding, bright white beam of light that appeared so fast it was more like it materialised from thin air instead of covering the distance between them.

The middle of the lead light armoured vehicle evaporated as the beam bisected it cleanly into two pieces and the metal edges where the beam had made contact were molten and glowing. An explosion of rock and dust followed as the beam was only brought to a stop by the cliff behind the convoy.

With no time to hesitate, she moved the sights to the very rear of the convoy, a tracked self-propelled anti-aircraft gun and missile system, likely what had shot her transporter down.

Pulling the trigger again, a gleeful smile spread across her face as she watched the SPAAG almost entirely disappear in the light of her rifle.

BFF's first attempt at a directed energy weapon, the 067ANLR, was an absolute resounding success. It boiled away any armour plating it came up against. Even the thick protective shield and armour of the BMH-11 was powerless to stand against it.

With the lead and rear vehicles destroyed, the convoy was thrown into disarray as it simultaneously tried to move away from both wrecks.

It would take them time to locate her exact position, by then most of them would be wiped out and cleaning up stragglers would be a cake walk.

She targeted a large soft covered truck this time, what she assumed was one of the vehicles carrying the weapons mentioned in the brief.

Lilium wasted no time in obliterating it, deliberately targeting anything that vaguely resembled a transport until the rifle capacitor ran dry, the heat sinks around the barrel glowing red with a heat haze emanating from them.

One of the truck's fuel tanks had detonated and was now causing a column of thick black smoke to bloom, rising lazily into the air.

Lilium replaced the capacitor and waited for the rifle to cool. Warping the barrel could have disastrous consequences the next time she fired it.

One of the vehicles she hadn't been able to engage yet shifted, a long truck with a large cloth covering the rear section.

The cloth rippled, lifting up like distorted skin peeling apart. From inside, a TELLUS/TYPE-HOGIRE mixed frame Armored Core rose, standing and turning to face directly at her, despite the distance between them.

It made an immediate beeline for her position, liking wanting to prevent her from taking out anymore of the convoy.

She sent a com' channel request to the pilot, surprised at how quickly it was accepted.

"Raven, this is the Collard NE-"

"You fucking monster! I don't give a fuck, you die here and now!"

A woman's voice screamed through the cockpit speakers, so loud and raw that it actually made Lilium jump in her seat.

"M-monster? You're calling me a monster? You're the terrorist here!"

There was no verbal reply, instead a swarm of Auto-Seeking missiles were fired her way, over a dozen warheads all looking to blow her away. However, dying wasn't on her agenda.

Her particle rifle hadn't fully completed its cooling cycle, but it was enough to resume firing.

Lining it up with the centre of the missile swarm, she pulled the trigger, bracing Ambient against the recoil.

The beam cut through the dawn sky, a brilliant lance of light outshining even the rising Sun. Any of the missiles caught in the heart of the beam boiled away in an instant without even detonating. The ones surrounding that weren't directly hit exploded as their warheads cooked off from the heat.

From behind the cloud created by the missile explosions, the Raven's AC shot sideways, sliding across the ground, crouching low as boosters carried it at a pace faster than its large frame suggested.

It was less than a single kilometre away now, closing fast. She'd have enough time for one more shot before being forced into close-quarters combat.

Leveling the rifle, Lilium let the FCS compensate for the target's movements, the rifle drifting slightly as the AC slid in an alternating slalom trying to throw her aim off.

Unable to wait any longer, she pulled the trigger, the enemy vanishing as the particle beam filled the display with static.

Waiting to see if the shot had connected wasn't an option, if the Raven did somehow dodge it, she'd need to be ready to follow up with the next attack.

Her radar was struggling to cut through the dust and debris kicked up by her particle rifle fire meaning she couldn't count on it to confirm any incoming threats.

Bringing Ambient out of the crouched firing position it'd been in, she unholstered the rifle on its leg and threw the NEXT into reverse, firing its boosters hard to try and begin putting more distance between her and the Raven.

As it turned out, that call was one that saved her a lot of trouble as a hail of rounds from the AC's Eqbal medium machine gun cut up the ground she'd just been standing on.

"Sit still you piece of shit!"

The Raven was yelling at her again, she spotted the AC in the air, moving sideways and dropping down to push on her.

It looked like it dodged her shot, but only just barely. It's left arm, shoulder and part of the core and hip were completely gone. If it'd possessed a left back weapon at any point, that was also missing.

The incoming fire followed her path, rounds now impacting with her Primal Armour. Arcs of amber lightning striking the ground around her as she moved.

"You think you can get away after what you've done, you're dead you hear me!"

"Yeah that's right, I blew up your toys so you can't hurt any more people, cry more!"

Lilium returned fire with her left hand assault rifle, the fighting too close and fast for her particle rifle.

The Raven touched down, still chasing while weaving side to side to try and avoid Lilium's fire. It was unsteady on its feet, the imbalance caused by the missing limb likely throwing it off during its evasive maneuvers.

"'Blew up our toys?' Do you have any fucking idea what you've done!? Y-"

She was cut off as a burst of Lilium's rifle fire ripped through the AC's right knee. At that speed the damaged joint crumpled under the strain almost immediately, sending the entire machine toppling into the ground, rolling and flipping from the momentum of the fall.

Bringing Ambient to a halt, Lilium leveled the particle rifle at the dust cloud thrown up by the Raven's fall. But there was no movement, nothing came out of the dust at her. When the cloud cleared, she could see why.

Likely a combination of poor maintenance as well as the violence of the collapse had caused the right forearm to break away at the elbow, along with the missile launcher on the remaining back mount.

The AC was moving, but barely. Lying on its front, battered and broken, it tried to crawl forwards on its remaining shattered limbs, managing to shift forwards by inches.

Boosting over to it, Lilium landed a short distance away before walking over and kicking the AC onto its back, pinning it down with her foot on its lower core and particle rifle pointed at its chest.

"Any last words before I turn…"

Lilium stopped speaking and listened.

 _Is… Is she crying?_

Sure enough, the sounds of sobbing began to ring loud through her cockpit.

"..ies…"

She leaned forwards, trying to listen in.

"Families… We were carrying families. Refugees from the population centre being bombed by the League. We promised they'd be safe..."

The bottom fell out of Lilium's stomach as a gut wrenching sickness took root inside her.

"No, no no no you're lying, y-you were carrying weapons, I was told you were moving weapons to the front lines!"

"Weapons? No, you coward, civilians. Men, women... Children. You didn't even doubt them, the League, did you? So eager to please your masters, you'd blindly slaughter anyone wouldn't you? Wouldn't you!? "

"I didn't… No I wouldn't…"

As the Raven beneath her foot broke down, Lilium turned back to the still smoldering wreckage of the convoy, an undeniable doubt gnawing away at her.

A little voice, birthed in the back of her head, hissing away just loud enough for her to hear.

" _You've been lied to."_


	12. Act 2: Ch 11: Elysian Castles

League Capital, Lynx Living Quarters

04:15

03/08/2114

"It's alright man, just get it all out."

Alicia had expected this. It was becoming far too regular. Almost every morning when she came to meet Sajjan this was how she'd find him.

"I'm… I'm sorry Alicia."

"Just focus on getting it out of you, today's important. Can't have you staying home for this one."

It looked like he was going to say something, instead another spew of brown and black bile poured into the toilet bowl, splattering loudly as it mixed with its contents.

She rubbed his back, more to try and comfort him than actually provide any assistance. These days this was the most she could do.

Popping open the long container with two weeks worth of medication with 14 pods, one for each day, she filled a plastic cup with water from the sink and set it aside for when Sajjan was able to keep something down.

"It sure as hell isn't your fault you're like this. Your meds don't last long enough to get you through the night and you can't take anymore than you already are per day. This is just how it is for us."

"For us? You're not… You're not the one dying here."

"No, but I've watched you slowly dying for just as long as you've known about this. Remember? You said you found out the same day you met me. It's not the same kind of suffering and it's not up for comparison or contrast, but seeing a friend fading away before you every single day is hell no matter how you look at it."

Sajjan heaved again, but this time nothing came out, just the grating sound of hollow retching. He knelt by the toilet, slumped over the rim with his head barely over it, panting to catch his breath before speaking again.

"I know… I know it's hell, I'm living it just as you're watching it. I'd say you don't have to stick around for this, but it'd be a pretty shameful waste of all those months just to skip out on my last dance, don't you think?"

He gave Alicia a weak, wry grin, to which she lightly tapped him on the head as a gentle reprimand.

"If you can muster even that level of sass then you can get through today."

Picking up the glass, she proffered it to him.

Taking a few long, deep breaths, he nodded and pried himself off the porcelain rim. Gripping the cup with a shaky hand he took a mouthful and swallowed, testing to see if he'd keep it down.

When the gagging and vomiting didn't start again, Alicia handed him his medication for the day. A chemical cocktail that would suppress the symptoms of his cancer, keep the pain at bay and generally allow him to function almost normally through the day.

Sajjan took the pills and shoved them all into his mouth at once before gulping down the rest of the water.

"I'll put your jumpsuit on your bed and wait outside. We've got plenty of time before the flight so don't rush."

Alicia walked out of the bathroom and picked up the jumpsuit from the floor, shaking it out and laying it flat on the bed, setting his boots neatly on the ground next to it. She walked out of the room and into the apartment hallway, leaving the door open so that Sajjan could still speak to her.

"Flight? What flight?"

"You didn't read the brief we got sent?"

There was a pause before the reply came back.

"There are a lot of unread emails in my inbox."

"Elijah's execution is being held aboard the Cradle test group. They want to use it as an opportunity to advertise their efforts into _'solving'_ the Kojima ecological poisoning crisis."

"Oh… I see. The solution that no one besides corporate higher ups can afford."

"You seem pretty well connected, do you know anyone on a Cradle?"

The sound of slow, heavy footsteps preceded the answer.

"Funny you should ask. My mother actually managed to get a work placement from the League on one of the Cradles. She runs a small financial division up there. I guess luck took her side."

Luck likely had something to do with it, but Alicia knew that Sajjan wasn't oblivious to the fact that his mother's previous position in Rayleonard and subsequent transition to a lucrative League division had something to do with her being picked to live and work on a Cradle.

There was talk that if it wasn't for her regular presence being required at all major board meetings, the League's Chairwoman would have also taken up residence on a Cradle as well.

Only a minute or so of waiting later and Sajjan walked out in his jumpsuit, fastening the strap on one of his gloves.

"You good to go?" Alicia asked, wanting to make sure he wasn't going to keel over before they even made it to the transporter.

Sajjan stopped just outside the door frame, closing his eyes, stretching his shoulders back and breathed in as deeply as he could before letting it gently.

"Good to go."

With that, as if the last hour or so never happened, he strode forwards and towards the end of the hallway with Alicia following beside him.

#####

11:25

Designated Cradle Airspace, Transporter Hold

The thud and rumble of landing gear touching down rang out through the spacious hold the two of them sat in. Apparently they were the last ones due to arrive for the event so they'd gotten the entire plan to themselves.

It was a little strange to be sat there without the usual 10 metre tall war machines looking down on them. There was too much empty space. You could almost sprint around the hold like it was a sports pitch.

Everything lurched to the side as the transporter came to a more abrupt halt than usual. Stepping outside off the transporter's ramp, it was easy to see why.

Technically, they were still flying, soaring above the clouds at 7,000m above sea level.

The Cradle project was the League's current money sink, pouring billions of credits into a short term solution for the pollution killing the planet that would do nothing to stop or even slow down the destructive progress of Kojima particles around the world.

Unimaginably massive constructions that resembled stacks of wings gradually moving back with each layer. Sajjan had once said that the Raven's Ark wasn't even a third of the size of a single Cradle, and there were seven of them in this testing group. Colossal engines kept them afloat, powered by the very thing that necessitated their existence.

"Give it 10, maybe 15 years and the only people alive will be on these things. We culled billions in the Great Destruction and now the League will willingly cut that down to a tiny fraction in the name of greater profits."

Sajjan was looking around as he said this, the two of them making a beeline for the external airlock. Hanging around for too long would likely cause them to pass out, Sajjan was particularly at risk what with barely functioning lungs.

"What the League either hasn't realised," He said, continuing as they walked forwards, "Or is choosing to ignore, is that probably less than 10 years after that, the pollution from Kojima powered automated factories and power plants will contaminate even this far up. Barely a generation of rich, privileged children will grow up never knowing the feel of soil beneath their feet before the greed of their parents robs them of their lives and their homes."

"What's the fucking point then? If everyone here is gonna be dead in 20 years is there any point in even starting this whole project? They want to build like a dozen of these Cradle groups, surely it'd take nearly that long to finish them all?"

They reached the airlock doors just as she began to feel light headed, the two large glass and metal panels sliding apart almost silently, inviting them into a small plain room lined with windows and framed in chrome.

Once they were in, the door shut behind them and the room began to pressurise.

"It would cost them more to dismantle and replace the industry they've built around Kojima technology. It's the League's baby so to speak. The foundation of their power and influence. After all, our NEXTs use Kojima generators to function as well as for Primal Armour. Rayleonard laid the foundation for such a world to exist, without them and AkvaVit's work and research, who knows what else could have taken the place of such a land breaking achievement."

He spat the last words out, meaning every disrespect.

Alicia didn't get to reply as the doors ahead of them opened, the airlock having changed pressure while Sajjan was speaking.

Before them were three people, two flanking the third.

The two were League security troopers, basically the League's private soldiers that answered directly to the members of the highest boardroom.

Between them was the person who sat at the head of that boardroom. A person that some hailed as having brought peace to the Corporations for the first time since the Great Destruction; and others who saw her as the personification for all of the League's many sins against humanity as a whole.

Lorenza Capello, the Chairwoman of the League of Corporations.

"Alice and Sajjan I presume? It's good to have you aboard, we can't begin proceedings without our guests of honour now can we?"

She extended her hand to Sajjan first who took it without hesitation, before she offered it to Alicia.

She chose to follow Sajjan's lead, taking it firmly as if the action didn't physically repulse her and shook it twice before letting go, a wire thin smile on her face maintained only by the thought of cutting the woman's throat where she stood.

"Guests of honour?" Started Sajjan as the group of them began to walk away from the airlock. "You flatter us, Lynx are so rarely people that can associate with a concept like honour. We will both do our best to uphold such a title."

He spoke as if talking to some archaic monarch, but there was something else too. An undertone to each word that you wouldn't pick up on unless you were familiar with how Sajjan usually spoke to people.

She'd seen something like it before, when he spoke to the security guard outside Elijah's cell. A milky, poisonous tone that dripped with pleasantry and respect, but was all to disguise the knife curling around behind your back.

"My, there's no need for such humility, you both were instrumental in Havok's capture and in breaking Line Ark's advance through the Capital. If it wasn't for Lynx's like yourself, the League's very existence would have been under threat, not to mention the lives that would have been lost had the fighting spread."

"Well I'm sure many are glad to have us around then."

Lorenza wasn't looking at Sajjan's face as she was ahead of both of them, but his gaze could have bored a hole through the back of her head.

It was a comforting thought to know that he despised her as much as she did.

The route they took was primarily around the outside of the Cradle, meaning they all got plenty of time to admire the view. At seven kilometres above the wastelands, on a clear day, you could see for almost 300km in all directions.

Not that there was much to look at these days.

Beneath them was a graveyard to civilisation. Endless expanses of dead earth, baked to a hard crust, no more rain to refresh the soil with life. Cities of old either abandoned to time, no nature left to reclaim them, or consumed by war until they are utterly razed, the rubble blown away by the bitter wind.

They walked in silence until Sajjan spoke up.

"Chairwoman, may I ask a favour?"

"Of course, if it's within reason I don't see why not." Said Lorzena, still walking.

"If there is still time, would it be possible to speak to Havok before his sentence is carried out? Part of me still feels that he's keeping something from us and I wasn't able to explore enough options while he was being held previously."

Lorenza came to a halt, turning slightly just enough that her narrowed eyes could been seen by both of them. There was suspicion, that was for sure, but it seemed like she had no basis for it and looked away, continuing down the corridor.

"That can be arranged, although I'm not sure what you'll get out of him as there isn't much time left."

"Thank you, Chairwoman."

Coming to a junction, the group stopped with Lorenza speaking to one of the security guards.

"Take them to the holding cell. They have 20 minutes. Once they're done, lead them to the waiting room outside the observation deck." She turned to face the two of them. "Follow this guard and he'll take you to where Havok is. The next time I see you will be on the Observation Deck. I hope you're looking forward to this momentous occasion; today is the beginning of the end for Line Ark as we cut the head off the proverbial snake."

"I'm sure that this will be a great victory for the League, I hope it's another step towards peace."

 _Peace? Killing Elijah sure as hell won't bring peace to Sajjan. It'll break the last string holding him here. If it weren't for trying to find, and now save that man, there's no way he'd have fought so hard to stay alive._

She didn't get a chance to air her thoughts as they were led away from Lorenza by the guard.

"This way."

They obviously weren't up for small talk as they were silent throughout the entire journey. Traversing three floors and covering hundreds of metres in corridors and hallways, they eventually were led into a corridor lined with armed guards like the one they'd been following.

There was one on each side, alternating every metre or so.

It seemed the League was pretty dead set on not letting anyone potentially break Elijah out or giving him any chance to escape by his own means.

The door was digitally locked as well as requiring a gel fingerprint scan, if nothing else, their commitment to security was impressive.

The guard closest to the door spoke with their escort quickly before turning and providing the needed code and print to access the room. With a single gesture, they were ushered inside.

It was like a flash back to barely a month previous.

Elijah sat in a chair with his back to them, restrained in place by rigid metal bars that bound his wrists and feet to the floor and table in front of him.

He was still wearing his jumpsuit, but it looked like it had been at least washed recently despite still coming apart at multiple seams.

As the door closed behind them, he spoke to them without turning around.

"You two back again? If I didn't know better, I'd say you were concerned for my well being."

This time Sajjan didn't walk forwards to face Elijah, speaking to the back of his head instead.

"This is really happening, you're going to die today if you don't stop this. Help the League and we might be able to save your life. Pl-"

"If this is all you came here to do then don't waste your breath. I really don't want some of the last things I hear to be you insulting me. You think I'd sell out the people I've fought so hard to support just to save my own life? Why the hell do you think I was out there? To get a good look at friend and family dying? I have a responsibility, an obligation to the people that look up to me. But I guess you don't remember what that's like having spent too long at the League's heel."

Sajjan was silent, no longer certain of how to proceed in the face of such determination. He wasn't able to reconcile the concept that this person so dedication to self-destruction and martyrdom.

Alicia took a step forwards, seizing the silence as a chance to speak.

"If you think that Line Ark is the only faction that opposes the League's rule, you're a fool and little more. You're so blinded, so devoted to your cause you won't even consider the possibility of an alternative. That same devotion is going to cost Line Ark it's leader and without you binding them…"

"You think so little of Line Ark? That we'd fall apart over my death? I made sure there were contingencies in the event of my death. But none of them will need to be implemented because I'm not going to die today."

Elijah's words hung in the air for a moment before Sajjan spoke.

"What? You do realise that this is going to happen right now? In less than an hour you're going to be taken from here, put against a wall, allowed to speak your final words, and then shot. This is reality. Whatever… Delusion you seem to be under, this is the truth, you're walking head first down a path that ends with you dead and you're almost at the path's end."

"Well you were invited here to watch weren't you? So go and do that. I know for an absolutely assured fact that I will wake up tomorrow and I'll keep killing anyone that stands between me and my goal."

"Does that include us?"

Sajjan's voice was almost hollow when he said this, no more weight to his words.

"I would have assumed you realised that by now, but let me spell it out exactly for you. If you get in my way, I will kill you. If you try and talk me down, I will kill you. If you try and save me, I will kill you. Have you got it yet? Do you understand now?"

Elijah had turned himself in the seat as much as possible, glaring at Sajjan from the corner of his eye.

Sajjan didn't meet his gaze, staring downwards at the spot below Elijah's chair.

It was left to Alicia to break the stalemate.

"Come on, he's a lost cause, we should go."

Sajjan said nothing, turning and walking out of the room in silence. But not before Elijah spoke up one last time before she crossed the threshold and shut the door behind her.

"He'd be disappointed in you, you know? Getting into bed the the people that killed him? That brother of yours?"

The barrel of her sidearm was driven into Elijah's temple before she even considered the consequences of her actions.

Making sure to dig it in deep enough to draw blood, she hissed in his ear.

"If his name leaves your lips again, I don't care what Sajjan says. I'll be the one to kill you today."

He said nothing, an unfaltering smile on his face beaming up at her, without a hint of concern at the threat against his life.

Faced with his quiet resilience, she holstered her gun and strode out of the room, leaving him in the dim light of the lamp above.

#####

12:40

Cradle Prototype #001, Observation Deck Lobby

Alicia and Sajjan sat without speaking on a pair of wall mounted seats just outside the elevators to the Observation Deck where Elijah's execution was due. There was minimal hussle and bussle, maybe the odd Cradle staff member with folders under their arm or a pair of security guards chatting while walking their patrol, rifles in limp hands, hanging more from the sling around their body than anything else.

There wasn't much to say anymore. Sajjan was likely trying to come to terms with the fact that he'd failed and his friend was going to die despite his efforts.

No more time to beg and plead, no more chances for last minute offers or bargains. This was the end of the road for Elijah Thomson.

For all his bitter fury and righteous anger, his life would come to a close at the end of half a dozen rifle barrels.

Was this the same fate that awaited her? She didn't particularly want to consider the possibility that her own revenge could end up the same way. Neither did she want to closely examine the increasingly numerous and disturbing parallels between herself and Elijah.

If nothing else, she could use him as an example, a representation of where failure will lead her.

A soldier exited one of the elevators and made a beeline for them, drawing Alicia out of her own head and back to the reality before her.

"Lynx," they said flatly, "You can head up now."

With that, the helmeted guard walked away without another word, leaving the two of them to walk into the vacant elevator cab.

It was a short journey, either due to the distance or the speed of their ascent, neither of them could tell or particularly cared at this point.

Exiting onto the Observation Deck, they were blasted by bright sunlight beaming in through the windows that ran around almost the entire room besides the part they had just walked out of where the elevator doors were.

The ceiling was made of curved glass panels making an oval shaped dome over them. At the centre of the room was a cluster of people with large broadcasting cameras and lights. A metal panel had been set upright towards the far end of the Observation Deck with what looked like restraints bolted to it.

Off to one side were what looked like several pale faced, black suited businessmen uncomfortably cooking in the direct sunlight.

With them was Lorenza, standing with a proud smile on her face and her arms tightly at her back, like a soldier standing on duty. This was her big day.

Publicly executing the leader of Line Ark would solidify her position as the League's head, that she had the capacity to overcome any adversary before her. If there had been any doubt in the boardroom's mind about her capabilities, this would silence them.

As Sajjan and Alicia walked forwards, looking out of the almost seamless expanse of glass, the other Cradles in the group were clearly visible. They flew only a few kilometres apart.

Sajjan was looking up now as well, a small smile on his face as he pointed to one of the nearby Cradles with a large '7' on the side of a connecting pylon.

"Cradle #007, that's the one my mother lives on. It's somewhat stunning to think that each of these has a few thousand people already living and working here. The production versions will hold tens of thousands and be almost completely self-sufficient. Humanity's final technological miracle, destined to kill us through apathy."

"So long as we can achieve our goals and dreams before then, to hell with it. Not like we've got anything else to live for."

"Well I'm about watch my dream die before me, so forgive me if I don't share in your nihilistic optimism."

Alicia almost apologised, but ran out of time as the two of them reached the small throng of League board members. Lorenza saw them approach and subtly waved them over.

"It's good to see you, Havok will be brought up shortly and then we'll begin proceedings immediately. No need to waste time after all."

"Of course not, I'm sure everyone here went to great effort to clear their schedule so they could be here."

Sajjan's reply was dripping with hostility but Lorenza either didn't notice or chose to ignore it. It wasn't like the two of them could cause any trouble with all the security around.

Small talk, or the lack thereof, lasted only around five minutes before the elevator dinged and every one on the Observation Deck went silent, all heads turning to face the opening doors.

With chains around his wrists, ankles, waist and a plastic gag in his mouth, Elijah clumsily stumbled forwards. Four security guards flanked him, two with rifles at his head, two with hands firmly on his shoulders ensuring that he kept moving forwards.

He didn't struggle or fight, he just marched at a stilted pace, his eyes locked on Lorenza, unflinching, from the moment he saw her.

The guards walked him to the wall that had been set up, hooking and tightening the restraints to his chains. Once they were finished, there was nowhere he could go. Elijah didn't have an inch to spare.

Camera crews moved forwards as the four guards that escorted him up were joined by another two from those scattered about the deck.

The six burdened with the task of taking Elijah's life.

Lorzena stepped in between him and the cameras, waiting for the cue that they'd gone live and the broadcast had started.

One of the cameramen started counting down on his fingers, on zero, Lorenza began speaking.

"Valued citizens of the League, today I am overjoyed and proud to present the public execution of the terrorist leader, Havok. This man was responsible for the attack on the Capital last month as well as countless raids and strikes against both military and civilian targets over the last year and a half. Today we cut off the head of the snake that had been poisoning us for so long, tomorrow, we burn its body and scatter the ashes!"

She turned around and untied Elijah's gag, from where Sajjan and Alicia were stood, they were close enough to see the built up saliva drip from his mouth.

"Now, Havok, do you have any final words before you depart this world?"

As Lorenza spoke, the six guards took up their positions where the cameras once were, rifles raised and ready. She backed up to stand along side them, between the two in the middle, close enough to hear Elijah speak.

He spat on the floor, clearing his mouth before looking up, his head panning across the cameras and the hidden faces of the guards waiting to fire.

"I have no words for the public watching this, actions speak louder. Everyone will soon see what Line Ark is capable of." He turned to face Lorenza, his eyes boring into hers. "Lorenza, did your mother ever sing you nursery rhymes? I don't know if mine did. But the matrons at the orphanage I grew up in would. Every night they'd come in and lul us children to sleep. I don't remember most of it, but one line has stuck with me…"

At that moment, his face twisted in

to a cruel smile.

"...When the wind blows, the cradle will rock…"

The last word left his lips, as a shudder rolled through the entire room, flashes of light cutting through even the midday Sun.

Everyone's attention was drawn outside, where they watched, frozen in horror, as one of the Cradles in the group began to break apart, fire bursting forth as dozens of explosions from inside ripped it to pieces.

A blast roared out from one of the nearby engine pods, shattering half of the windows of the Observation deck. In the chaos, Alicia saw one of the security guards rush forwards towards Elijah.

For a second she thought the guard was going to hit him with the rifle but instead, the guard unlocked Elijah's restraints and began to run towards the elevators as fast as possible.

Their eyes met for a brief moment across the deck, a smug smile on his face.

Then he was gone, another blast rocked them, this time from pieces of another Cradle raining down onto theirs.

"Everyone, make your way off the Observation Deck! Make an orderly queue to the elevators!"

Lorenza was shouting, trying to direct the confused and frightened group towards the rear of the Observation Deck.

Sajjan was just staring blankly into the air, unmoving.

"Hey," Said Alicia shaking him, "Hey, Sajjan! We've gotta move, come on!" She tugged at his arm as he weakly followed, now looking around with a vacant expression on his face muttering, "Where's Cradle 7? Where's it gone?"

She didn't have time to explain that it had probably met the same fate that the rest of the Cradle group had been subjected too.

"We can find out later but we're gonna die if you don't get a move on!"

His legs finally started moving close to normally, staggering for a moment before continuing towards the elevators.

The lack of oxygen was starting to kick in as her vision began to swim in and out of focus just as they reached a half full cab. It seemed like virtually everyone made it off the Deck and were now all heading to the lobby area.

The elevator cab pressurised as it descended, vital, oxygenated air flooded her lungs, almost having the same effect as the lack of it.

Another bone shaking rumble rolled through them, leading to some concerned glances likely about the safety of being in an elevator while the thing it was inside was exploding.

However, no respite was to be found in the lobby, mostly because a majority of it had been blown away, the row of seats where they'd been sitting not even an hour before hand was now a void in the Cradle's structure, sparking wires and smoldering metal was all that remained.

"Sajjan, I need you to get it together otherwise we aren't gonna make it off this thing, please, snap out of it!"

With that Alicia swung a closed fist into the side of his head, hard enough that he'd have staggered backwards if not for the fact she'd grabbed onto the front of his jumpsuit at the collar.

He instinctively raised his hand to the point she'd connected with, wincing before blinking and looking up at her.

"Are you back?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, we should go. See if we can cut Elijah off before he can escape."

"No, no no no that's not what we're doing, forget Elijah, he's already gone, we've gotta save ourselves before we go chasing after him."

A look of indecision flashed across his face before he sighed and agreed with her.

With that, the two of them made a beeline for the hangar, dodging between panicked businessmen and civilian families alike.

By the time they reached the hangar, everything was listing heavily to one side, most struggling to remain upright as the unbalanced support of the Cradle's remaining engines failed to keep it steady.

There were thousands of people trying to push and shove their way to the front. Fear fueled the crowd, so many terrified they wouldn't get a place on the limited number of evacuation dropships.

The transporter they had arrived on was still outside, waiting for their return.

Alicia turned to the crowds, jumping onto a set of crates to compensate for her short stature.

"Everyone! We are Lynx of Collard, we have an empty transporter on the runway, we can take 400 of you, follow us if you can't get to a dropship!"

They couldn't save everyone, no one could, but they could try and save as many as possible.

Moving to the airlock, Alicia pulled out her phone and used the local com' net to hook into the pilot's channel.

"Guys, it's Whiplash, we're bringing evacuees, don't leave without us!"

"You've got as long as the restraining bolts will hold, if they go we're leaving whether we want to or not!"

In barely minutes, countless dozens of people had filtered through the airlocks after them, rushing as fast as possible to get to the transporter's open ramp before the runway tilted too far.

People slipped and fell, bouncing over the edge with a scream cut short.

Someone's child disappeared in an instant, lost to the void below.

 _You can't save everyone._

 _You can't save everyone._

If she didn't believe it, she'd never be able to take another step forwards.

She pulled people on board, trying to cram as many on board as possible. Arms over hands over backs, dragging and pulling without end.

Sajjan was making sure that the people in the hold were secure, giving them rigging and cargo straps to hold onto.

Then something outside cracked like a small bomb going off and everything began to lurch to one side.

The phone she'd kept attached to the chest of her jumpsuit blared at her.

"That's it, we're going, ramp is coming up!"

The transporter's engines roared to maximum power, the ramp lifting away from the crowds still desperately clinging to the ramp's lip.

Begging, pleading for her to take them too, to take their wives and children.

Most lost their grip, tumbling into the gold streaked abyss below them. One woman was still holding on, her shoulder over the edge.

If she could save one more…

Alicia pulled as hard as she could, with every ounce of her strength just as the ramp closed shut and she lost her footing, tumbling down to the cargo hold deck, the sensation of gripping something convincing her that she'd succeeded.

She was still holding the woman's arm, the rest of her nowhere to be seen. A violent revulsion overtook her. Both at the crudely severed limb, but also at the realisation that even if she'd saved that one person, it couldn't possibly be considered a success.

Even from where she sat, she could see the Cradle breaking up in flight, more explosions tearing its enormous body apart. Hundreds upon hundreds of distant, unidentifiable figures pouring over the edge of the Cradle runway, a torrent of human bodies.

If anyone had believed that the attack on the Capital was the greatest act of violence committed by Line Ark, those people would now stand in horrified silence as tens of thousands died in the space of minutes.

Line Ark had made its move.

War had been declared.


	13. Act 2: Ch 12: Vice & Regret

**A/N:** I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. I wanted to take a break from writing and it ended up being WAAAAY longer than expected. I can assure you that for the most part, regular updates should resume, so gaps like the one over this summer won't happen again. I hope you enjoy the future and soon to be expected content!

League Capital, Lynx Living Quarters

05/08/2114

01:50

It had been a long time since Alicia had considered doing anything like this. She'd never actually gotten around to it. but many years later, in a situation she'd considered impossible, there she sat, in Sajjan's lone armchair with a short tumbler of something that in the past might have been called budget price whiskey.

For now, it was just a thin brown swill that'd help take the edge off the previous day.

Although it might take more than just that to do anything about the previous day's edge.

The League officials were still counting the dead.

In the span of not even half an hour, nearly 30,000 people died. Line Ark claimed responsibility shortly afterwards, claiming to have infiltrated the Cradles before hand to plant explosives. Those on the first Cradles to explode were lost instantly, never having a chance to react. A few dropships managed to make it off the Cradles who's bombs detonated slightly later.

They were the only transporter to escape, making up the bulk of the survivors.

If the records she had previously obsessed over were to be believed, it was over ten times the amount who died in the Ark's fall. That and the Ark hadn't fallen immediately, that battle had lasted hours.

Looking up from the glass in her hand, she looked across the dimly lit room at Sajjan sat on the edge of the bed with had a matching glass in his hand. To be accurate, it was his fourth glass, but he didn't seem to show any signs of either intoxication or slowing down.

"You're not gonna make it through the night if you keep up that pace." She said, nodding at the glass to indicate the context of her words.

"I thought this stuff was supposed to make you forget, people won't shut up about drinking their worries away, but I'm still drowning in mine." He didn't move as he spoke, sitting perfectly still, all the while staring into the glass as if his gaze would bore through it.

"It's not quite that simple. People usually have lots of little things they wanna forget, drink makes it hard to focus on any one thing so you can stop thinking about it all. You want to forget something that will probably remain as clear on the day you die as it is right now. Believe me."

"I believe you, I just wish this was as easy as everyone said it was."

"Of course it's not, nothing's ever as easy as someone else will make it out to be. A third party going through a process will make it look streamlined, you're only observing their physical reactions to something. Who knows what is going on inside their head?"

"If it's anything like what we know, maybe it wasn't so easy in the first place."

He finally moved, like a statue coming to life he lifted the glass to his lips, tipping back the entirety of its contents down his throat in a single motion before reaching for the bottle.

Alicia didn't stop him, tonight wasn't the place for restraint.

"What was he like? Elijah, I mean… Before he became Havok."

It was a question she asked to try and both take his mind of the day's events, but to also perhaps try and get him to think back to times when living wasn't so painful.

"Elijah? At first… At first he was like a sentient ball of anxiety, so worried about treading on people's toes. I'm not sure he'd have ever spoken to me if I hadn't approached him."

Alicia had to chuckle a little at that.

"You? Talking to strangers and making friends? Geeze things must have been different back then."

"I'm the person that used to be like that and after everything that's happened it truly does feel like I am watching the life of another man." He polished off the new glass before continuing. "Elijah settled into the life of a Raven quickly, that and despite what he or others might have said, he had a knack for piloting an AC. He just never had enough confidence to push his limits."

"I guess that's not really a problem now, he seems to have achieved his potential now."

"True, but his NEXT then was damaged. Had it been more of an even fight, it might not have gone so well for me back at the Capital."

A slight pause before he broached the next topic.

"He idolised him, your brother, you know? I think he'd have sold both of his legs if it would have gotten him 5 minutes in the same room as him. His dream, back then, was just to be the best. To show the world that even someone who had grown up with nothing could become a name known the world over. To put some weight into his transient existence."

"Did he ever get to have that conversation? I wonder what choice words Berlioz would have for him now."

"Oh, he did. I never found out what they talked about exactly, but I got the feeling he didn't get the answers he wanted to hear. Thinking back, I probably should have pressed him more on that. As for choice words, I think you summed it up pretty well back in his prison cell. He either can't reconcile with the hypocrisy of his words and actions, or he's entirely past that point and is utterly determined to achieve his goal no matter the cost."

"Does that mean you're accepting he can't be saved?"

Sajjan gave a harsh bark of a laugh that rapidly descended into a coughing fit, causing Alicia to lean forwards incase he needed help. He waved at her to show he was fine, calming down slightly before continuing.

"And then what? What do I spend the rest of my days doing? I'm not going to rot away in silence and regret while he's still out there. Call me an old fool, but I'd be much happier burning out, dying chasing the impossible, than giving up in the face of the inevitable."

She raised her glass to him, "Now that's something I'll drink to. To dying chasing the impossible."

With a thin smile and the embers of defiance in his eyes, Sajjan leaned forwards and clinked his glass against hers.

"To dying chasing the impossible."

#####

League HQ, The Capital

10:45

The colossal, almost monolithic tower that stood at the Capital's heart was to no one's surprise, a labyrinth of endless corridors leading to doors leading to rooms leading to hallways leading to staircases leading to yet more corridors.

An impossibly dense interweaving, intricate network of borderline non-euclidean architecture.

It was in such a nightmare building that Alicia and Sajjan found themselves moving through.

Thankfully their journey was actually a fairly simple on, taking the central elevator up to the highest levels before switching to several overly ornate staircases that looped around and over. Alternating chrome, glass, steel, crimson and silver, an ode to the modern aesthetic and past representations of power.

The two of them were still in the elevator however, no matter how quick an elevator might be, there's only so fast you can climb just over a kilometres worth of building before people start to fall over from the acceleration.

"I'm getting really tired of elevators."

"I'm sorry?"

"It's always an elevator before these sorts of things. A long ascension before we have to listen to some out-of-touch superior rattle off a list of useless orders that'll have no bearing on our future."

"Sounds like you've really done this a few times."

"Too many."

Part of Alicia wanted to ask more, concerned to some degree as to how much longer she'd have the chance to ask such a question.

As if to remind her of Sajjan's impending deadline, he was wracked by a fit of coughing, supporting himself on the railing that ran around the elevator car.

"Dude are you going to be alright? I can just report back to you if need be."

Sajjan didn't answer verbally, waving his hand vaguely at Alicia as he gulped down air, straightening up at a glacial pace.

The elevator was already coming to a halt by the time he was upright and breathing normally again. The concern on Alicia's face wasn't exactly hidden as he looked at her.

"Worrying about me is a needless use of your energy, that and I don't particularly want you to be left alone in a room alone with Lorenza Capello, she might dress herself up nice, but at her core she's an animal that'll tear out the throat of anyone who threatens her grip on power."

"You really think after all of this I can't handle one jumped up corporate overlord?"

The doors slid open, Sajjan speaking as he walked forwards out of the elevator car.

"I'm glad you're with me so I don't have to go in there on _my_ own."

She didn't really have anything to respond with to that, choosing instead to quietly follow him out into the thickly carpeted corridors of the League HQ's upper floors.

The place resembled something closer to a mid 20th century five star hotel than a 22nd century corporate headquarters. Far too lavish and gaudy for her tastes.

They both stood out like a sore thumb, their worn and battered pilot's jumpsuits clashing violently with the crisp, sharp suited men and women that strolled from office to office with binders and papers tucked under their arms.

It wasn't difficult to say, with piercing glares shot their way every five feet, that they did not belong in such a place.

Thankfully, their journey to the office of Lorenza came to an end before a large set of solid mahogany doors inlaid with shining silver trim.

"You ready for this?" Alicia asked him, half regarding his emotional state and the other half his physical condition.

"No, but it's not like we've got a choice, let's get this over with."

Sajjan turned to one of the guards at the side and nodded slightly. The guard about faced and tapped on a panel by the door, a series of hollow clicks signaling that the door was unlocked.

The guard spoke up before pushing the door open.

"Try anything, and you'll be dead before you hit the floor, Lynx."

Alicia had no face to get a read off as the guards wore full face enclosing helmets, similar to the ones she'd worn as part of Rayleonard's special operations unit. Going off the tone, it wasn't a bluff.

Lynx were constantly reminded of their expendability, regardless of skill level. Gerald Gendlin was likely the only exception to that.

Stepping into Lorenza's office was like someone had taken the aesthetic outside and cranked it up to eleven.

Luxurious didn't quite cut it, gaudy and over embellished were better descriptors. Everything shined and glittered, millions of tiny rainbows being cast across the room from a chandelier hanging above them.

Was the threshold they'd just crossed actually a portal into some shitty world where people have too much money?

Sitting behind a large dark, glossy oak table was the person who wielded such outrageous wealth and power, was the CEO of Leonemeccanica and the Chairwoman of the League of Corporations.

Lorenza Capello.

Her expression was stern, dark almost, as if she was trying to counteract the excessive glare from the room.

"Sit."

The single word was an order that needed no further direction, the two seats set before her the obviously meant for them.

As soon as they were settled, Lorenza began speaking.

"I don't think I need to explain the situation that the League is in to the both of you. You were there, you saw what Line Ark is willing to do in the name of their cause. The League can no longer afford to treat those animals as such. If they want to be considered a legitimate threat, then fine. From today, we are stepping up our operations against Line Ark, this isn't pest control anymore, I want nothing less than utter extermination."

There was a pause before Alicia decided to speak up.

"You called us up here personally, just to tell us this? Why did we need to be here, this is the sort of thing we'll be hearing broadcast across the city for the next month."

"Talk back to me again, Lynx, and I will have you shot."

Alicia, for the time being, decided against speaking up again.

"Now, the reason I called you two here is that I need people on the ground that I can trust. Or should I say, people that I can move directly. The military process is a slow beast to get rolling and if there's one thing I can praise the Raven's Ark for, it was providing the Corporations with a fast and effective method of applying force."

It was Sajjan who spoke this time, Alicia remaining diplomatically silent.

"I assume that is what we are going to be then, your 'fast and effective method of applying force'?"

A thin smile spread across Lorenza's face, not quite touching her eyes.

"Indeed. You both have survived two encounters with Havok directly, more than most at any rate. I need you two on the frontlines, pushing the Line Ark strongholds while the League's forces are consolidated for an attack on their main base of operations when we find it. I will no longer tolerate this rabble at our gates, threatening the League's progress and destroying our attempts at moving forwards in the world."

Bile boiled up in Alicia's throat.

 _Threatening the League's progress? Thousands are dead, fucking thousands of people died and all you care about is your 'progress'!?_

Her mouth was half way open when Sajjan caught her eye and shook his head, turning to look back at Lorenza who continued to smile, appreciating the power she held over both of them.

"I want to make something absolutely clear," she continued, "Havok has already been sentenced by the League, it is no longer a question of bringing him in dead or alive."

She locked gazes with Sajjan specifically.

"Elijah Thomson is to be killed on sight. If I have even the suspicion that you are assisting your old friend, I will take great pleasure in executing you both myself. Is that understood?"

He said nothing, likely processing the fact that Lorenza knew who Havok was all along, his efforts at secrecy rendered pointless.

Alicia, in a moment of hindsight, realised that Elijah had been going under the name of his AC that he'd used prior to founding Line Ark, which should have made this an inevitability from the moment he went public against the League. Sajjan must have been more optimistic about the League's ineptitude than he let on.

Lorenza's gaze turned to Alicia.

"And as for you Alice, if Sajjan is found to be assisting Elijah or Line Ark in any way, you will be next on the firing line, so it is in your best interest to deal with him before we do. Is that clear?"

She said nothing in return, only holding Lorenza's unflinching gaze.

There was obviously a misassumption about her self-preservation instinct. Alicia couldn't care less for the threats being thrown around. Lorenza put too much faith in people's fear of death. That sort of thing doesn't work on people who've grown up on battlefields with death breathing down their neck on a daily basis.

Taking Alicia's silence as acceptance, Lorenza leaned back in her seat, tenting her fingers and glaring at both of them.

"Now, get out of here. You will begin to receive mission directives shortly, I expect the two of you to do the right thing and kill anyone that stands in the way of the League."

As if on cue, the guards from outside were flanking them, the implicit expectation of their leaving suddenly made clear.

"Up, Lynx."

A digitally filtered voice hissed at them, one of the guards jabbing Sajjan in the shoulder with their rifle barrel.

Both Alicia and Sajjan stood and were almost pushed out of the office, led at gunpoint to the elevator back down to the lower floors. Only when the doors of the elevator car close and they'd begun their descent, did Alicia feel that she could breath again, taking the opportunity to lash out at the glass wall. Striking it hard enough to crack the knuckle protectors on her gloves.

"That motherfucking piece of shit, she didn't think once about a single person on the Cradles! How can she sit there, so confident in her fucking self-righteousness!"

Sajjan was still silent, provoking her ire.

"You've got nothing to say about this? Please don't tell me you're just going to roll over and do what they say? You can't still think that this is the best way forwards?"

"I'm not…" He started, now visibly shaking. "I'm not just going to roll over. I just can't believe I was so naive to believe that they hadn't realised who Havok was. I'm running out of time and I'm now running out of room to breathe."

"So what are we gonna do?"

"For now, we move as ordered, but it's clear we can't keep operating under the League for much longer. They must already be suspicious and want to use us to get at Elijah, but they don't want us defecting like Mary Shelley. So, we've got guns to the back of our heads and there's not a lot we can do about it. I just don't know when is the best time to leave."

Alicia said nothing, instead pulling off the glove she broke, inspecting her bleeding knuckles, flexing through the pain.

"Fine, I'll decide, but I won't be leaving you behind. If I say it's time to break from the League, you're coming with me no matter what. I won't stand for you being strung up as a martyr for them to jeer at. The clock's ticking and if we don't keep moving forward we'll be crushed. We've both got far too much shit to do before that can happen."


	14. Act 2: Ch 13: A Reflective Property

Queenslance, Personal Quarters

03:45

07/08/2114

Sat on the edge of her bed, Lilium had now taken almost 20 minutes to fasten the third buckle on her left boot.

In the intervening time, she'd thought of several arguments as to why she shouldn't have to wear the boots, that was before she'd even gotten to the subject of the newer reinforced jumpsuits that Lynx had to wear during missions.

In the end it was all just a part of her own delaying tactics.

The last thing she wanted was to get back into a NEXT, the shivering in her hands was enough of a signal that every sense she had told her not to sit in that cockpit.

Her mother had enough clout to get her pulled from the mission roster for a month so that Lilium would have the time needed to recover from her last deployment.

Unfortunately, such clout meant nothing in the fact of an Executive Order directly from Chairwoman Capello. Her word was law and there was nothing to be done about it.

All Lynx were being deployed in reaction to Line Ark's attack on the Cradle group. It was a desperate, irrational, violent action against an enemy that is inherently resilient to actions like this.

Line Ark wasn't some great nation they could invade and conquer, they didn't have clear supply lines and manufacturing centres. Their entire operation was built on the premise of guerrilla warfare, hit and run, moving both in the shadows and in plain sight. This wasn't an enemy you could just throw your weight at and expect to make a dent.

You'd be swinging fists at mist and light, wasting your breath until you suddenly found a knife slipped between your shoulder blades.

But the League had an image to protect. The public wouldn't stand idly by while corporate leaders mumble and stumble through half assed speeches about the promise to do more to protect them. The Cradles destruction had lit a fire that wasn't going to go out on its own.

All of this led to the situation she was in now. Being pushed into a NEXT to fight an enemy she couldn't see, hear or smell.

At least that's what she'd expected.

After finally managing to get ready, an update was sent to her inbox, the small phone in her jumpsuit's pocket vibrating. It was short, sent on an encrypted line directly from her mother.

There was no formal formatting, it was likely not even supposed to be sent to her, but if nothing else, it gave her a little more ground to stand on. After all, knowledge is power.

All it said was:

 _Lilium, your target will be the former BFF ace Mary Shelley. Please be careful._

A shapeless, unknown threat was frightening, so even this was enough to calm her. She had an objective now, a real tangible target that she could focus on.

The League's intentions became a little clearer too. This wasn't the uncontrolled, animalistic lashing out she originally suspected, this was a precision strike at the heart of Line Ark's strength, their veteran Ravens.

Nothing else posed an equal threat to the League's military might.

This mission would be a straight up fight between two pilots, Lynx vs. Raven, NEXT vs. AC. No external factors, nothing that could throw the battle like last time. Her target was unequivocally someone that could be called 'the enemy'.

A mission like this would be the perfect cure for her situation. Beating her predecessor would show her and everyone else that she could bounce back no problem. She wasn't shaken, she wasn't broken, this would be shoved right in the face of anyone that doubted her.

Lilium could feel it in every step forwards she took down the corridors of the Queenslance, should could feel it in her stride as she closed the distance to Ambient, it's cool grey exterior a suddenly welcoming sight, instead of one she'd been dreading only minutes beforehand.

This was her armour, her sword and shield, so long as she had faith in it and herself, there was nothing anyone could do to bring her down.

#####

Eastern Wastelands, Transporter Hold

12:15

Ambient's rifle sight calibration failed for the third time in a row.

"God, fuck! Work you piece of shit!"

In an uncharacteristic fit of rage she slammed the side of her fist into a secondary monitor sending it spinning away on its arm, banging loudly against the inside of the cockpit.

The NEXT's FCS needed to use a consistent variable in the error between where she was aiming and where the rifle barrel was actually pointing. It was similar to the aim assist most NEXTs used for their weapons, but when it came to precision targeting over several kilometres, specialised hardware was essential to maintain accuracy.

Said hardware was now failing to acquire an updated variable as her right arm wouldn't stop shivering enough to get a good reading.

Forcing it to repeat over and over wouldn't solve anything, it would just waste time and stress her out. Instead, she took the opposite approach.

Lilium leaned back, away from the multitude of displays in front of her and closed her eyes, letting the hum of the transporter's engines fill her head, trying to drown out the growing noise echoing in her skull.

A thought she'd been having for the last hour of this flight.

The fear was still there. The uncertainty was flowing through every fibre of her body and no amount of self-conviction could shake it.

She'd managed to fool herself back on the Queenslance, but now, inching closer and closer to the point of reckoning, the truth was unavoidable.

This was Mary Shelley, not some no name Raven. The once ace of BFF and former S-Rank 3 Raven, a legendarily skilled pilot and the highest ranking survivor of GA's war, Line Ark's very own Original. There was no one considered more dangerous in their ranks.

That was who she was now on her way to engage in single combat.

"Ambient?"

The voice from her handler coming over the com channel almost made her shriek in shock before she composed herself.

"Uh! Yes! Ambient here, what's wrong?"

"Oh, no, nothing's wrong, I'm just letting you know that you're only a few dozen klicks from the expected point of contact. You're going to want to be ready for a hard drop and immediate engagement."

Lilium was grateful that the handler she'd been paired with since she started working in the field seemed to actually care about her wellbeing. The horror stories she'd heard from other Lynx about how their handlers treated them made her appreciate it even more.

"Please run a final weapons and systems check, you're estimated to drop in the next five to ten minutes."

"Got it."

Glancing over at the overview of Ambient, she could see that her left hand rifle had a round chambered and the sniper rifle in her right was also ready to fire. She'd made the last minute change from the 067ANLR directed energy rifle to a more conservative and familiar 050ANSR sniper rifle.

It still wasn't exactly suitable for the close quarters fighting that most battles between NEXTs and AC's devolved into, but it was a far sight more flexible than the energy rifle, which was closer to a piece of artillery than a realistically portable weapon system.

That said, her target was likely going to be using a very similar loadout to her which could lead to this fight being a sniper fight.

If Lilium recalled correctly, Prometheus' 047AN frame wasn't as maneuverable or as fast as Ambient's 063AN, but it was more durable and could absorb more kinetic energy in impacts, meaning it's aim wasn't as easily shaken.

Nothing in Ambient's current load out would have enough punch to truly shake Prometheus, but that wasn't her priority. Her current strategy was simple enough that it should work in any situation that Mary pushed her into.

Use the left hand assault rifle to suppress Prometheus' movement, target its optics with the right hand sniper rifle to hopefully blind the AC and prevent it from accurately firing back.

That was the plan, but there was no chance that it would go smoothly. You didn't become an S-Ranked Raven by slipping into hastily made traps like hers.

"Ambient, Prometheus' position has been confirmed. It is moving to intercept, you will be dropped immediately. Switch to combat mode."

Lilium began the process of changing the NEXT's OS and FCS over to combat mode, shunting all secondary systems onto backup processors and giving the majority of Ambient's processing power to the high intensity operations like firing arc compensation and high-speed radar refresh rates.

All of these details ran through her head, trying to drown out the growing doubt that blossomed like a thick smog, suffocating every thought she had.

"Combat mode engaged, ready for drop."

The moment she stopped speaking, everything shunted backwards gently as the transporter gantry rumbled to life, rolling her towards the opening ramp at the back.

No turning back any more, the point of no return had long since been passed. This was it, only inches of empty space between her and a fight that was looking less and less like one she was going to walk away from, let alone win.

The gantry's power line came loose and the clasps holding her in place released. With no time to give it a second thought, Ambient fell out the back of the transporter, plummeting towards the hard baked desert ground.

Not even five seconds ticked by before her FCS lit up with a warning.

 _[LOCKED]_

 _[LOCKED]_

 _[LOCKED]_

No time to think, no time to even consider the direction that she was being targeted from. In this situation, against Mary Shelley, throwing her aim off was the priority before all else.

Lilium threw Ambient into a wild twist, just in time to see the thin white vapour trail of a high-velocity slug pass through the space she'd occupied a fraction of a second earlier.

The deafening crack that followed the high-hypersonic projectile made her ears ring even in the cockpit. It took only a moment for the FCS to track the projectile's arc, sourcing it to a nearby ridgeline a few kilometres to her west.

If she'd had a little more time, she could have activated the stealth modules on her shoulder mounts and approached with some caution, but the time for that sort of planning was long gone.

The warning from Ambient's FCS was still flaring brightly at her, Mary hadn't lost lock on her even if she'd missed before.

Pushing Ambient forwards into a spiralling descent, she charged the Over Boost, letting its capacitors fill to the maximum, waiting for the moment her orientation faced Prometheus' suspected position.

Another slug passed her by, this one close enough to shake Ambient. If she'd managed to get it's Primal Armour up and running, it would have likely caused the field to react even without making contact.

The second the compass at the top of her HUD showed the small 'W', she fired the OB, propelling Ambient forwards like a rocket.

But travelling in a straight line was effectively the same as asking to get shot, so she fired Ambient's maneuvering thrusters side to side, doing her best to keep Prometheus' sights.

Lilium was thankful that she'd passed on eating before heading out as the inertial forces pulled and pushed her body from side to side, the sensation being somewhat like what she'd imagine someone taking a sledgehammer to her insides.

Straining to move her left hand from the controls, she set about engaging Ambient's PA. If there was any chance in her winning this fight, the PA system was it.

She cut the OB as she approached the ridgeline, Ambient dropping like a stone, narrowly avoiding the third round fired at her.

The second she touched down, the panel to her side indicated the PA field was ready to deploy and she didn't hesitate for a moment in activating it.

A familiar charge rolled across the ground surrounding Ambient, rippling arcs of amber lightning rolling across the dirt and grit at her feet.

An instant later, her radar flared a warning, indicating a threat within 200 metres of her, just in time for Lilium to look up as something propelled itself off the ridgeline above her.

With a crash that reverberated through every fibre of Lilium's body, the Armored Core Prometheus landed before her, throwing up a thin cloud of dust around it.

She caught a glance at a warning on a secondary monitor regarding a security compromise in her communication network before a harsh, cutting voice rang out through the cockpit speakers.

"What fortuitous timing, it's been too long since I got to cut my teeth on League dogs like you."

Despite the shiver rolling through her body, Lilium was able to raise her voice and answer Mary's taunt.

"I'm no dog, I am Lilium Wolcott, pilot of the NEXT Ambient. Under direct orders from the Chairwomen of the League of Corporations, Lorenza Capello, you will either stand down and surrender, or die by my hand. It's your choice Raven!"

A longer pause than expected followed her defiant cry, leading her to wonder if Mary had even heard it.

"I finally get the chance to stand before you, and you're a goddamn child? How many more children do I have to kill before the world is satisfied?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I think killing you before you're forced to find out is a mercy you don't deserve, but I'll hand it down to you regardless."

Before Lilium had a chance to react, Ambient's PA was being pummeled by a barrage of assault rifle and sniper rifle fire, whittling the protective field down to dangerously low levels even in the short time between the onslaught starting and Lilium's evasive backslide a second later.

She wasn't on the ball, her reflexes felt dull, like she was trying to maneuver while underwater or stuck in tar.

Everything was delayed, slowed down, sluggish. This wasn't how it was supposed to go, it wasn't meant to be like this.

"Ambient, focus, you're in her optimal range, push to engage, you can't win a sniper fight like this!"

Her handler's well intentioned advice was lost in the panic slowly setting into Lilium's mind.

To her side, the monitor tracking her PA's status began blaring a warning at her, the field's integrity dropping below 20%. Despite Lilium's best efforts, she couldn't throw off Mary's aim.

The former ace of BFF had clearly earned her position. Even now the difference between them was like an ocean, an undeniable gulf born from a lifetime of fighting and killing that Lilium couldn't begin to fathom the depths of.

So far her returning fire had done little but light up the sky with tracers, expending ammunition uselessly against an enemy that knew how to read firing patterns with accuracy that frightened Lilium. It was almost like precognition. The closest she'd come to inflicting any damage was when Mary had _allowed_ her shots to land, knowing the exact thickness of Prometheus' armour and the angle of her shot telling her if the round would penetrate or simply ricochet off the hard metal plating.

Lilium's earlier observation about Prometheus' lower maneuverability compared to Ambient was proving to be untrue in practice. She'd failed to take into account that Mary had piloted that specific frame for almost a decade. It was less a case of being piloted, more that it was a natural, integral part of her body.

The comparatively bulky AC weaved with grace she could only dream of.

A large outcropping of boulders and rubble that looked like it had formed from a rock slide caught her eye.

If evading her fire was impossible, then breaking Mary's line of sight was the only alternative.

In that moment, her PA field dropped below the critical threshold and came apart, the sphere of gold and amber particles dissolved into a glittering cloud, sparks discharging into the ground around Ambient.

If Lilium didn't get Ambient behind cover immediately, her NEXT would be torn to pieces under Mary's unrelenting hail of gunfire.

Flaring her boosters past their rated spec, she shot behind the outcrop, the sound of rounds slamming into the rock, ripping even the naturally dense material apart.

"After all your talk you're just going to run and hide? Are you really the person who cost me everything?!"

The outcropping exploded, Prometheus crashing through it, charging at Lilium with the ferocity of a wild animal.

A difference in elevation saved Ambient's left arm, Mary bringing her right hand rifle down, aiming to dismember Lilium's NEXT with sheer brute force than any form of cutting edge or tool.

Lilium spun Ambient counterclockwise, the blow narrowly missing the front of her NEXT's core before she fired her boosters in reverse, propelling herself away from Mary while trying to recharge her PA field, dumping energy from reserve capacitors to speed the process up.

 _What is she talking about? Why does she keep talking about me like I've done something to her? I barely spoke to her when she was still with BFF!?_

She let off a salvo of rounds, taking advantage of Prometheus' momentary instability as it recovered from the failed charge.

"What did I do to make you say these things? Just what the hell are you talking about?!"

The assault rifle rounds slammed into Prometheus' left arm and leg, but the two sniper shots she got off slammed into the side of its head, blowing the optics cluster's armour away on one side.

As it turned to face her, she got the impression of a disfigured creature, bearing its gaze down on her.

"What you did? Did they never tell you the cost of you replacing me? Oh you, you stupid child. Did you smile with a toothy grin when they built a world of lies around you?"

"What lies? What do you mean the cost!? Stop treating me like a child and tell me what you're talking about!"

Prometheus was in front of her in a flash, the shattered headpiece with burning lenses filled her main display.

It now gripped the sniper rifle by the base of its barrel, which had been warped and bent in the previous charge, and swung it like a club, crumpling in Ambient's left arm and sending her flying from the sheer kinetic energy of the impact.

In turn, Prometheus' arm recoiled back from the shock, the makeshift sniper rifle melee weapon exploding into pieces as if a bomb had been stored inside it.

"Alright then!" Mary's voice coming through slightly distorted, the speaker system in the cockpit likely damaged in the impact, "No more kiddy gloves!"

Just as Lilium managed to get Ambient on its feet, Prometheus swung a left hook that connected with the centre of Ambient's chest, the NEXT's main armour plate caving inwards, splintering at the edges while the fist of Mary's AC disintegrated from the pressure of the blow.

She'd had no chance to stabilise Ambient's footing and was sent crashing back into the dirt, the cockpit seat straps cutting into her even through the jumpsuit, a monitor came loose from its mounting, dropping to the floor behind a dangerously bent support beam.

"Ambient, pull out, get out of there, she's going to kill you at this rate, you need to leave the mission area immediately, do you hear me?! Ambient!"

Lilium wasn't listening, Mary's words all that she could hear now.

"Did you think that replacing me would be a clean, painless process? I guess for you it must have been, just step on in and sit in the empty throne. So simple!"

Focusing on getting Ambient upright, Lilium wasted no time doing her best to put distance between the two of them, the few boosters she still had flaring hard as she put the NEXT into full reverse.

"It sure as hell wasn't so easy for me. That contract, that obligation kept my family alive. Gave them the care they needed to survive. I killed and killed, day after day so that I could keep seeing their faces."

Prometheus resumed its onslaught, barrelling down on her, outpacing Ambient by miles. But instead of allowing the AC to collide with her, she spun Ambient counter-clockwise, rolling around the charging machine.

Try as she might to line up her reticule with the enemy, Mary wasn't making things easy for her. She cut her thrust, driving her feet into the rocky ground and followed Ambient's spin, bringing them face to face once again.

"The second you appeared, they didn't need me anymore. They had no reason to keep my family alive. They were going to dump them in the fucking streets to rot. Do you know what that's like? To know that your only reason for living is considered literal garbage to be disposed of!? I had to take their lives before the League did, I had to watch my own mother and daughter die by my hands, all because you wanted to dip your toe into the battlefield!"

Ambient's PA was redeployed only a second before Prometheus began firing at her again, now abandoning the plan to engage her in melee combat.

Lilium's mind was running at a million miles an hour, a cacophony of thoughts screaming around her head, all born from this single piece of information.

 _It was my fault?_

 _I caused all her anguish._

 _I set it all in motion._

 _If it wasn't for me._

 _If it wasn't for me._

 _If it wasn't…_

"Lilium!"

Another voice cut through the noise, clearing the ear-shattering din that had filled her head only a second before.

Not the handler, someone else, someone unexpected.

It was her mother's voice, ringing out loud and clear through the cockpit speakers.

"I didn't send you out there to lie down and die, you've got a future ahead of you, you can't be held accountable for someone else's actions. Don't let her bitterness and her anger put you down, you can win this fight!"

Her mother was right, but she was in some way complicit for this situation unfolding the way it had. For too long, Lilium had held the feeling that her mother was hiding things about both BFF and the League. That would have to stop if she was going to keep working for them.

"If I survive this… If I win, you tell me everything, do you understand? No more secrets, you hear me!"

"I-I understand. Just please don't give up, don't let someone like her be your end!"

On the hanging notes of her mother sounding timid and afraid of her daughter for the first time, Lilium faced her opponent again, this time with the weight of conviction behind her.

"Mary! I'm not taking the blame for what you've done. You can carry the weight of your own sins, accept that responsibility!"

"You think you have any right to say that to me, after everything you think you can turn around and off hand your role in this?!"

Lilium lit Ambient's Over Boost, rocketing towards Prometheus in the blink of an eye, left hand sniper rifle drawn back.

"I can, because I never made you choose to do those things, that blood is on your hands alone! Accept it!"

Not giving the experienced veteran time to even think about what she was planning, Lilium thrust the rifle forwards as she passed Prometheus by.

The barrel lodged into a chink created by a sniper rifle round earlier, splitting the chest armour plate a fraction of a second before the rifle barrel splintered into thousands of pieces, the follow through of the weapon's receiver colliding with the compromised armour was akin to a pile bunker impact.

Such a blow obliterated the weapon, but not before it cleaved a good chunk out of Prometheus' core, taking the entire left shoulder with it.

A catastrophic wound dealt by the most desperate hands.

The two of them were thrown apart, Prometheus spinning away from the amount of kinetic energy forced into it. Ambient's momentum carrying it downwards, the boosters failing to provide enough lift for a safe landing leading to the NEXT crumpling into a heap in the sand and dirt.

Through what felt like willpower alone, she pushed Ambient to it's feet again, the NEXT never having taken such a vicious degree of punishment before. A somewhat off centre secondary monitor displayed a 2D rendering of Ambient, multiple sections highlighted in varying shades of yellow, orange, red and black.

The NEXT's left arm was blinking red, a warning notification popping up saying that the arm was unable to function but was at least still attached to the core. Such a colossal amount of force put into the limb had likely rendered it almost destroyed internally if not externally.

Her generator was compromised, running at barely 30% efficiency. It went without saying that it couldn't support a PA field anymore.

But Ambient stood on its own two feet, assault rifle still clutched tightly in it's right hand, a few hundred metres away, a cloud of dust marked Prometheus' landing point.

She only had a wait a second before the enemy AC walked, no, stumbled out of the thick cloud thrown up moments before.

Lilium raised her rifle, sighting the reticule over the hazy blur before her. What she didn't want Mary to find out, was that the cartridge feed for the rifle had jammed, meaning that all she could do for now was threateningly brandish the useless lump of metal as if it still worked, and pray that her enemy took the bait.

Mary's AC was missing an entire arm and it also looked like one of Prometheus' legs was limp, barely supporting the machine's weight. It carried no weapons anymore, Lilium assumed having lost them in the landing after her attack.

The com channel on the other hand, was apparently just about functioning, the connection full of static and signal drops.

"Yo- think I'- -et you get awa- -h this? Your hypocrisy w- be your downfa-. You understand? The momen- I can take y- -ife, I'll seize it with -ll my strength!"

With that, Prometheus' boosters flickered briefly before lighting, lifting the wounded machine into the air, slowly sailing away from the carnage they had carved into the Earth.

Her ploy had worked, Lilium letting out a long sigh she didn't realise she'd been holding in for the longest time.

Her mother spoke again, sounding softer than usual.

"Come home Lilium, there's nothing else to do here. Even if she survived, it'll be at least some time before she is able to be deployed again."

She turned Ambient away to head home, but knowing that she was finally going to learn what had been hidden from her all this time, there was a gnawing fear in her gut, that it wouldn't feel like home for much longer.


	15. Act 2: Ch 14: The End of Daydreams

League Capital, Residential Block 32

21:35

08/08/2114

Bitter and cold, walking down an asphalt street in the dark, pulling a large woolen overcoat around himself wasn't exactly how Gerald had planned to spend his Wednesday afternoon and evening, but yet another long extended performance review at the local Rosenthal branch had caused plans to be somewhat delayed.

Said plans originally included a quiet, relaxed drink at the home of Vincent Crows, the one person he could even remotely call a 'close friend'. Now it was more likely going to turn into a booze fuelled venting spree as he unloaded all his frustrations on the only person that'd listen and take him seriously.

It wasn't like Gerald didn't feel guilty about it, but if he didn't say _anything_ about it, he'd lose his mind after a week or less. Sacrifices had to be made and all that, he just wished it wasn't the same person time after time pulling the short straw on this front.

The clinking of discounted beer bottles in the bag hanging from his right hand was the sound of his attempt to make the evening a more equal trade.

They were all the same brand, but Vincent's half were non-alcoholic as it disagreed rather aggressively with some of the medication he had been made to take recently. Some kind of liver dysfunction, he didn't like to pry so Gerald was somewhat in the dark about it all.

The street wasn't particularly well lit and a heavy fog was beginning to descend, throwing a haze across everything he could see. Even the powerful lamps regularly spaced along the sidewalk struggled to cut through it.

It could almost be cause for concern if Vincent's front door wasn't just coming into visibility about 10 metres ahead of him.

A small walled garden sat at the front of each building, subtly different from the one next to it. A hint of individuality displayed in a place designed to be uniform. Warm, orange light lit the door's porch, emanated from a classically designed lamp with a small LED cluster at it's heart.

Even in the gloom of the evening, it made him feel welcome and comforted. Like he was coming home, rather than visiting someone else's.

The thought of his own sterile, cold apartment near the Capital's heart crossed his mind, a bitter shiver rolling through him.

There was no buzzer or communication panel at the door, Vincent apparently favouring a more antiquated aesthetic, involving rapping a brass coloured knocker on the deep red door. A short pause followed before the sound of footsteps quickly rang out behind it.

A lock clacked as a catch was turned before the door swung open inwards, revealing a large, well built tanned man with a bald head in grey suit trousers and a plain white shirt unfastened at the collar.

"Gerald! Your sense of timing is impeccable as usual."

Vincent smiled and pulled him into a bear-like hug, squeezing almost all of the air out of his body.

"Uck, heya Vincent, I hate to keep people waiting after all."

With a sharp back on the back, the signal for 'I need oxygen', Gerald was released and an arm was extended towards the interior.

"Please come in and make yourself comfortable."

Vincent's smile could have wrapped around his head and it'd still look natural on his face, there was nothing that could cut down his unrelenting optimism.

Maybe that was another reason Gerald hung around him, maybe some of that positivity would rub off on him some day.

Stepping inside, warmth hit his exposed face and hands like a wall, filtering through his coat as if it was seeking to eliminate any facet of cold in his body. Just as he'd unfastened it, Vincent had lifted it from his shoulders and hung it on a peg close to the door.

"Oh, thanks."

"It's no trouble at all, can I take the drinks from you? I'll put the rest in the fridge, no one likes warm lager after all."

Gerald became aware of the quiet in the house as he took a beer out for the two of them before handing the bag over.

"Where's your husband?"

Vincent answered as he walked away towards the kitchen.

"Oh Lyle? He has to run an extended shift today, apparently some sub-managers under him misplaced several deliveries and he has to remain on site until they've been recovered. It's the curse of being responsible for others, but the more bad situations he works his way out of the better the higher ups view him."

"We all know how hard it is to earn the respect of the League."

If he wasn't in the kitchen when Gerald had said it, such a thing might have earned him a pitying look, but thankfully he was spared such a thing and Vincent walked back towards him with his unflinching smile as always.

"Come now, take a seat, we've plenty of time to talk so let's not do it on worn out feet."

Taking the hint to 'get into the living room and relax for once', Gerald turned into a room that looked like it had been lifted straight out of a late 20th century interior designer's brochure.

The very first thing you see, your eyes being drawn towards it, is a quietly burning fireplace on the far wall, recessed into a slightly thicker piece of the wall indicating where the chimney was. A black, faux wrought-iron guard stood between the flames and the room, allowing it's heat to roll over them without the risk of embers causing a blaze.

Warm gold and crimson textured frieze ran around the centre of the walls above a piece of ornate dado and wainscot panelling. The wall above was a light cream colour that helped boost the currently dimmed lights hanging from a simple chandelier as well as a brass floor lamp in the corner behind a deep seated arm chair, it's light covered by a dark emerald shade that cast it's colour across the walls behind it. There was also a sofa against the wall to his right, covered in cushions that matched the lamp's shade in colour.

A plain, low standing oak coffee table sat in the middle of the room on a rug with a woven multicoloured tessellation across its surface. The carpet below was an unassuming burgundy, a colour that could have conveyed wealth in some situations, but in the subdued and quiet living room, it added to the calm and peaceful warmth of the room.

Everything about it was inviting, like this was a place anyone could enter and lay down on the sofa or sink into the armchair and just melt away. The world outside this room stopped mattering once you entered.

That was exactly the plan for the evening.

Vincent would have allowed him to sit anywhere, even the floor if the fancy took him, but Gerald knew that the armchair was his seat, his throne of comfort if you will and so took up position on the far end of the sofa by the fire, fighting the temptation to curl up like some kind of oversized cat.

Having followed him in, Vincent took his beer from the table after Gerald had put them down and as expected, lowered himself into the armchair before popping the drink's cap off and taking a long swig from it.

"Aaaahh, that's the closest I'm gonna get to perfection for awhile."

A thin smile spread across Gerald's face as he uncapped his own bottle and let the murky brown liquid roll down his throat, the smooth bitterness filling his mouth before he let the bottle rest on his thigh.

"So," began Vincent, now locking his gaze on Gerald, "You don't usually make a habit of coming over just to kill time, do you?"

"No, you're right I don't…"

Vincent's expectant gaze was pushing for the continuation.

"I got pulled into a meeting today, well actually it was more of a formal caution than anything else, I thought it was going to be something fast which is why I was sort of late today."

Vincent waved his hand dismissively before gesturing for Gerald to carry on.

"Apparently, the teams sent in to clean up my messes are now struggling to contain the information that I'm not all I'm talked up to be. Other Corporations inside the League are beginning to catch wind of my failures, pushing Rosenthal and by extension Omer, to provide more detailed results from my operations. Such results obviously being falsified and such falsifications becoming more and more difficult to make believable."

"So… What you're saying is…"

"I'm becoming a liability the League can't afford anymore. Sooner, rather than later, they're gonna stack up the numbers against each other and decide to cut me loose. I mean I can't say I blame them, but to be honest this isn't just about issues they've got with me."

Vincent's eyes narrowed a little over the end of the bottle as he took another sip.

"You've got problems with the League?"

"You're damn right I do," scoffed Gerald, "Who the fuck doesn't around here. At best, people pretend like everything's ok, faking their way through a perfect life, that the things going on around them don't affect them but they're just ignoring the countdown. The clock ticking until the men in suits come knocking on their door."

"I hope you don't mean u-"

"What? No, oh God no not you two. If anything you two know more than most regarding the League's actions. You might not be able to do anything about it, but you don't turn away and pretend it's not happening."

"So what exactly are you going to do about your problems with the League, obviously taking your current situation into account?"

Gerald drank a good half of his bottle in one go before taking a long breath and answering.

"I have no goddamn idea. I mean I don't think just letting things take their course is an option I can even take. I know too much, the moment they don't need me around anymore, I imagine I'll just disappear like so many others do. The League would rather deal with the public fallout of my 'falling in battle' as a martyr to a cause I don't even believe in than let the other Corporations know I was a sham all along."

"Wait wait hold on a second, 'I'll just disappear'? You think they'll kill you? That seems… drastic."

Gerald felt his heart sink a little, Vincent wasn't blind, but he obviously didn't know the full extent of the League's depravity and capacity for violence. Maybe that was a blessing in disguise, but nothing he could do about that now.

"I've seen it happen, I've been part of it... Every single day, someone on a list needs to be struck off to 'maintain peace and security'. The moment the balance between threat and asset tips out of my favour, it's only a matter of time before they come for me in one form or another."

There was a look of mild horror on Vincent's face before he masked it with the beer bottle, his expression having returned to somewhat neutral when he lowered it.

"How do… How would they do it, do you think? If they had to get rid of you?"

Gerald genuinely considered this for a moment, staring into the middle distance as he remembered the various ways other targets had been 'dealt with'.

"It might be a little different for me, I'm a person of high visibility. If I just disappeared in the conventional sense, the wrong sort of people would begin asking questions that Rosenthal, or really Omer, wouldn't want to answer. I think it'd probably be something along the lines of the team that usually finishes my missions for me. They'd jump me during a mission and make it look like the enemy did it."

Vincent finished his beer and stood up.

"I think I'm going to need another, you?"

"Yeah, thanks." He answered with a weak smile.

It wasn't fair that he did this. Vincent deserved a normal life, without the horrors of what went on behind closed doors pushed onto him every time Gerald couldn't take being alone in his head anymore.

Another beer appeared before him, shaken gently by Vincent.

"Ah, thank you."

The cap was already popped off so he took a swig, watching the bubbles rise to the bottle's bottom as he drank.

"So," Vincent said as he sat down, breaking the sentence with beer before continuing, "I mean, what can you do then? The League won't just let you walk out the front door. Waiting for them to inevitably… Well, kill you isn't what we want either. Is there a way for you to get out of the League's grasp without losing your life in the process?"

"Actually… I think I have a way."

"Oh really, care to share?"

"Are you sure you want to know, you could get in a lot of trouble just for knowing this, I'm serious."

Vincent gave a laugh like a bark, a blast of joviality.

"Oh I'm far too deep to back out now. Just tell me and let's get on with it."

"Alright then. For the last few weeks, I've been meeting with someone, discussing plans to get me out of the League's control. An undercover representative of Line Ark."

That caused Vincent's eyebrows to shoot up, but he remained silent, allowing Gerald to carry on.

"They've said that, if I choose to, they can secure my escape from the Capital without the watchful eye of the League catching wind of what's happening."

"That means you have a third option."

"Exactly, and to be honest, it's really the only option that doesn't involve either being killed or waiting to be killed. I'm… It might sound obvious, but I'm struggling to turn their offer down. I guess the real reason I'm here is to get a second opinion on this. It might save my life but at the same time, everyone's seen what Line Ark is capable of, acts that, frankly, frighten me almost as much as what the League has done."

He paused, letting what he was saying sink in before continuing.

"Am I just going to end up trading one evil for another? I can't be sure I can justify this choice when the line between the two seems so blurry."

Vincent was quiet for a moment, a shiver rolling through Gerald as the possibility of a negative reaction crossed his mind.

"It sounds like, the League is the devil you know better. Also the devil that, from what you've said, will be directly involved in your death in the near-future. If nothing else, at least Line Ark has offered you support instead of a knife in your back. Now that's not to say that they won't do exactly the same should they achieve their goals, but it's really a case of weighing up the known vs. the unknown."

What Vincent said was true. Staying with the League had a virtually guaranteed ending, where as siding with Line Ark was at least promising if somewhat vague with regards to the final outcome of such a decision.

"I guess this choice, really isn't one. I'll… I'm gonna tell Line Ark I'll join them. I'll leave the League."

Vincent looked a little quiet before nodding slowly and taking another sip of his beer.

"Honestly, I think that's the best option for you. As much as I'll miss you, there's nothing left here for you but a creeping end that you can't run from. No one would want that for you, no one that cared about you anyway."

"That basically means just you," said Gerald with a wry grin spreading on his face.

"Hey I'm being serious here. I mean, this is gonna be a hell of a change for you. This is a turning point that is gonna alter the rest of your life from this point onwards. No more comfort in the security of the League, any benefit you did manage to get from them will be gone. You'll be a criminal, an outcast. You'll be a Raven, the very thing you were trained and ordered to kill."

"I think I can come to terms with that. I mean after all, any hardship or struggle I go through because of this has to be a hell of a lot better than lying to myself and then dying for nothing. I mean… Fuck if I'm gonna die, I wanna die for something, even if that's Line Ark."

"You'd die for people that killed thousands of innocent people?"

"They aren't good, but they're a lighter shade of grey than the League, and in a world as fucked up as ours, that's really the best I can hope for."

"Christ that's depressing."

They both drank at the same time before catching each other's gaze and bursting out into spontaneous laughter.

Only in a situation like theirs could they find a twisted sort of humour in the choices they were forced into making.

Gerald let the rest of the evening blend into the warmth of the fireplace and the beers they sipped. The decision was already made in his mind, so this was now a time to enjoy the last moments of peace he had in a life under the League before plans were put into irreversible motion to break him free of their yolk.

A rare, genuine moment of respite that seemed almost impossible to exist. When times like that were presented to you, you took them and you treasured them.

He couldn't see times like these happening in the future. Not when he was now willingly putting himself into the gunsights of the League, painting a neon bright target on his back. But if it meant a chance at righting some of the wrongs committed by the League, then he'd happily take the bullet.


	16. Act 2: Ch 15: Echoes and Abyss

A/N: I'M NOT DEAD AND NEITHER IS THIS FIC. Ugh I feel really bad that it's taken _this_ long for an update but I lost my job shortly after posting the last chapter and then sort of went into a spiral of never having the energy to write or just putting it off BUT NOW I'M BACK. This chapter is a bit of a meaty one so I hope it makes up for the wait but I can assure you the next will be much shorter and arrive much sooner. Thank you everyone who's stuck around to wait for this and I'm ready to start pushing this story towards its inevitable conclusion.

-MrMasher

Airspace over Former Atlanta, Transporter Hold

14:55

16/09/2114

 _Breath in, breath out. Calm down. Treat this just like any other mission. Nothing has changed but the weapon I control._

Of course that was a lie.

Today she would be fighting inside a literal piece of history. An artifact of a past so recent, yet radically different. But it wasn't only history for the world, but herself as well. A family heirloom if you wanted to be pretty about it.

There was nothing pretty about it in reality. Both physically and in concept, the space she occupied, surrounded by monitors, control panels and loose wiring was stained, filthy.

You could scrub all you wanted, fill the whole cockpit with bleach and flush it out, rinse every inch and never be rid of it. That same history which gave the machine she sat in such renown was a blemish on every surface, an imperfect etched into every molecule.

It was for these imperfections, blemishes, filth and stains that she could almost say she loved it for what it was. For something so drenched in suffering and violence, it was the only relic left behind of a man who carried an impossible weight on his shoulders. A crushing sin that defined the rest of his life.

Her weight to carry now.

On her right arm, around the outside of her jumpsuit glove was a worn down, broken wrist watch. A gift, back in the hands of the one who gave it.

 _How rude_ , She thought, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.

"Alicia? Are you awake in there?"

Sajjan's voice snapped her out of the reverie, the direct, and as of recently encrypted, channel between them crackling slightly.

"No, I'm here."

"Good, I don't want you drifting off in thought down there."

"No shit, we haven't exactly been doing well down there."

The two of them were moments from dropping into the largest conflict zone since Detroit in 2110. A shattered, burnt out mess of concrete, asphalt and steel that was once called Atlanta.

When the Great Destruction wiped most of mankind's homes from the face of the earth, almost two million people lived in that city.

Now the only people that called it home were a large contingent of Line Ark insurrectionist forces and several factions of the League vying for control of the region under the pretense of 'suppressing Line Ark activity in the area'.

A steaming crock of steaming lies if ever she saw one.

"Sajjan, you think we're gonna get away with using an AC as well known as Supplice instead of Whiplash? Lorenza will figure it out soon enough and put two and two together. She won't like the idea of Berlioz Lamond's last living relative running around so deep inside the League."

"We've got time. The hangar staff working on Supplice don't care for the League enough to rat us out and our Handler will be well rewarded for keeping their nose out of our missions for the time being. It's not foolproof but it should grant us a modicum of security while we work out where to go from here."

Alicia pried her water bottle from the battered holster on the side of the seat and emptied half of in one go.

"And where exactly is it that we're going? We're still under the thumb of the League with no actual goal in sight besides 'kill every League fucker possible' which isn't exactly achievable when we _work for them._ "

Sajjan was unable to answer in time as the transporter pilot cut him off.

"Lynx, we are entering the mission area. The ramp is down, drop as soon as possible."

"Understood, dropping." Replied Alicia.

From what Sajjan had said, there would be no need to check in with the Handler assigned to them, meaning they wouldn't have to deal with the usual inane confirmations.

White Glint was ahead of her, the gantry holding it now moving forwards to the ramp at the transporter's rear.

Disengaging Supplice from its own gantry took a little longer than she'd like to admit, the usual array of controls, switches and panels she was familiar with now scattered around the cramped space.

Cockpit design hadn't changed a lot from the last Armored Core frames designed to the NEXTs the League used now, but the 03-AALIYAH frame was somewhat of an outlier, having been designed well before the majority of other AC frames.

The very first Armored Core, the weapon that changed warfare and the balance of power between countries and Corporations.

Finally, she stood on the lip of the transporter's hold, White Glint having tumbled out moments earlier.

 _Here we go. Look after me, Berlioz._

With a slight push of the controls, Supplice toppled out of the transporter, flipping end over end once before stabilising into a feet-first drop, plummeting towards the smoke covered ruins of Atlanta.

"Alicia, I've touched down, the moment you hit the ground, move to my position and we'll advance on the objective together."

She tentatively flared Supplice's boosters, her stomach lurching upwards at the force suddenly exerted on her body despite her best intention to brace herself for it.

After some frantic manipulation of the throttle to prevent a descent either too fast or too slow, Supplice settled down on a long street lined with office buildings that had collapsed in on themselves, rubble spilling over the sidewalk and onto the street.

A thin haze of dust, smoke and ash surrounded her, despite the earlier turbulence caused by Supplice's landing. It cut her visibility by a disturbing margin, but thankfully the optics of Supplice's head had several image enhancing filters and systems that cut through the majority of the interference.

"Alright, I'm down, put a marker down so I can he- UGHK"

"Alicia? Alicia, what happened!?"

In the process of just trying to turn around on the spot, Alicia had made Supplice's torso turn almost 90 degrees to the right with the right arm extending fully outwards. While the street wasn't exactly narrow, it was close enough that this action resulted in Alicia driving the BFF made rifle in Supplice's right hand straight into a building, causing her to lose balance and topple completely over.

"I'm… I'm fine. Just getting used to things."

"Make it a crash course, we don't have time for training wheels today"

Alicia could do nothing but groan at the pun, intentional or not, and picked Supplice off it's back, staggering at the wild and sensitive inputs.

 _Jesus christ Berlioz, how the hell did you use this thing?_

Everything felt magnified ten-fold, almost like it had no weight compared to the relatively chunky TYPE-LANCEL frame that Whiplash used.

She settled on moving to White Glint's position, taking care to manage the ridiculous booster output as well as the balance of the AC.

An explosion rang out, around 500m from her position she guessed. Close enough to shake the cockpit but not nearly close enough to cause any harm.

"Sajjan, did you spot that blast?"

"Yeah, looks like large bore mortar fire, they're trying to range us. Must have spotted the drop." There was a hiss of static as Sajjan switched both of them over to a local League com' channel. "This is the pilot of the NEXT White Glint, could the commanding officer of the League forces in our area please respond."

They didn't have to wait long before someone answered.

"Major General Kellson speaking, what do you Lynx want, this is a League military channel, you should know better than to bypass battlefield protocol."

"Well General, today is different, you'll be working with us directly. So consider our Handler as indisposed for the duration of our stay here."

"Like hell am I taking orders from a goddamn Lynx. Someone put me through to Collard immediately, I want to know what the hell is go-"

Alicia cut him off.

"Look, the two of us have no qualms about reducing you and your entire division to dust before going on to complete our objectives. In fact nothing would make me happier, but we've got to put on a pretense of getting along, so for the sake of your sorry life and the men you lead, let's not make this difficult. Understand?"

An uneasy silence followed before the General replied. Alicia was slightly concerned that he'd accept the challenge, not that she had any doubts that the two of them could accomplish here earlier threat.

"Fine. We'll be advancing along these lines to strike pre-designated points along Line Ark's defensive perimeter. Support our assault or stay the hell out of our way."

The line cut dead and the com' system defaulted them back to their encrypted channel.

"Well that could have gone worse." Said Sajjan, his AC turning towards the series of markers that had shown up on their HUDs in unison. Alicia brought up a map of the local area on a secondary monitor, panning the image around to see the criss cross, haywire mess of battalions, platoons and jumbled up squads of infantry, IFVs, tanks and MTs pushing their way deeper into the city, towards the equally chaotic mess of downtown Atlanta.

"Could have gone better too, but we'll take what we can get. I think we should advance down this avenue, try and push as far around their forward line and then hit them from the side. If we can keep their attention long enough, the League forces will hopefully be able to punch through and it's just a clean up job after that."

As she spoke, Alicia marked out her suggestions on the display, which shared her input with Sajjan. The lines on the map made by her finger showing up on his end as well.

"Alright, I think that's a good bet. You're not gonna have any trouble getting there are you? I don't want any more accidents."

She couldn't help but huff at his words.

"Shut it, I'll be fine. You'll keel over before I do at this rate, get moving old man."

He laughed but didn't say anything back, likely a silent agreement.

White Glint began a steady walking pace, following the usual urban combat procedure of advancing quietly until as close as possible before attacking at maximum speed.

Being stealthy in a 10m tall armoured war machine wasn't usually possible, but in high intensity conflict zones, especially ones in built up areas, a little forethought and planning made it possible.

At least it would have been slightly more possible if it weren't for Alicia's unsteady gait, Supplice struggling to maintain a regular walking pace.

"Was my brother some kind of unheard of god-tier pilot or am I just a fucking idiot?"

"Berlioz was good, better than most, but his ability to use Supplice wasn't some mythical ability or unheard of capability. He used 03-AALIYAH framed ACs from the moment he was able to afford his own, going from that to Supplice wasn't as drastic a change as going from a TYPE-LANCEL NEXT to the machine you sit in now."

"Ok, but why the hell can't I get this thing to do what I want?"

"You're still trying to handle it like a NEXT, like something you're putting control inputs into." Sajjan paused for a moment, as if pondering some thought before he continued, "Can you remember the moments when you start to forget that your NEXT is separate from you? When something about the distinction between what you're telling your body to do and what your NEXT does starts to blur? When Berlioz fought in Supplice, he lived and breathed in that state. He didn't run across a battlefield, he flowed over it, around it, through it. Supplice felt more like a living, breathing entity when it was under his control, it wasn't an AC anymore, it was an extension of his own body."

"So… What you're saying is?"

"Stop overthinking it. Forget it's Supplice, forget it's an AC, just… Stop falling over."

"That's great, real great. Thanks, asshole."

With his whimsical and somewhat baffling advice now rattling around the back of her head, the two of them continued their advance along the enemy's position, heading to a point where the density of their forces thinned.

After covering only a few blocks, Sajjan spoke up again.

"Alicia, stop."

White Glint came to a halt and Alicia brought Supplice alongside it as best she could.

"What is it?"

"Listen, what do you hear?"

She made a face but strained her ears, trying to hear anything besides the low hum of Supplice's generator and the faint sound of several firefights in the far distance.

"Nothing, what the hell am I supposed to hear?"

"Exactly. The mortars, they've stopped firing."

"They wouldn't stop for no reason, and I doubt they coincidentally ran out of shells at this moment."

"Fire up your PA, I have a feeling we're going to be engaged soon."

Alicia didn't need to answer, instead turning slightly to her left and flicking a pair of switches.

When Berlioz had piloted Supplice, Kojima Particle powered generators didn't exist, and so Supplice's Primal Armour was created by a small external module mounted to the standard 03-AALIYAH/G generator.

Trying to replicate such a system was, according to Sajjan and Kostya 'An infinite pain in the ass'. Instead, they'd crammed a GN-LAHIRE generator into it.

The two of them had explained this when she first saw Supplice, but it was only now that she was really getting to experience it in person.

The new display mounted above the PA control panel showed that the cloud of Kojima Particles around Supplice had become dense enough to be molded and Alicia pulled the small lever next to the switches down, sending the necessary electrical charge into the particle cloud.

Amber and gold lightning rippled around her AC, coalescing into a shimmering haze, the odd tiny discharge of energy striking the ground as the now charged particle field interacted with the debris in the air.

White Glint had also deployed its PA, the same haze surrounding it.

Short of a direct hit from a thermobaric bomb, the two of them were utterly invulnerable

"Right, let's keep moving. Eyes on your radar, if we can catch them coming at us first, we can get the jump on them."

"Thanks for combat 101, do you wanna go over the basics of breathing and blinking?"

Her snark wasn't a genuine snap at him, if she didn't keep him on his toes he'd likely slip back into his old distant self.

For a man creeping closer to death with each passing day, he'd come a long way from the detached, distant man she'd met just over a year and a half ago.

 _How long do you have left? Do you have enough time to finish what you've set out to d-_

A red blip flashed up on her radar display.

Followed by two more.

"Sajjan, contact, three signals from heading 030, 1500m out and closing."

White Glint leapt into the air, boosters flaring to life a second later sending the machine sailing into the air. He alighted on top of a seven-story building to their left.

"I see them, three Gibbons moving towards us, weapons are up, they know we're here."

Alicia focused Supplice's optics and could just make out the three lumbering figures in the distance.

"No need for stealth anymore then, right?"

"Too true, let's give them a warm reception."

White Glint lowered its rifles, the twin missile pods on its back mounts rotating into their firing position.

The covers protecting the missiles flipped open and two missiles, one from each pod, popped out, rocket motors igniting a second later, propelling them into the air, streaking towards their targets.

The missiles broke open, each revealing their payload of eight smaller missiles that launched away from their now useless shell.

The sixteen warheads scattered, slamming into the targets and the ground around them, blanketing the entire area around them with fire and smoke. Even the buildings either side of them collapsed inwards, crumbling into the street, burying anything that might have survived the swarm of explosions.

As anticipated, the three targets vanished from Alicia's display, the dust and debris kicked up from the blasts, along with the buildings collapsing obscured their demise.

"Well," she said, rolling her shoulders as dozens of new signals showed up, "I think we got their attention alright. Let's go to work."

* * *

Former Atlanta, Downtown

16:30

 _This isn't fucking working._

The same thought had bounced around her head for the last ten minutes non-stop. Nothing was going right.

She was still struggling to handle Supplice, which didn't make her feel any better than the fact that she'd almost been taken out several times now by small clusters of MTs and entrenched infantry.

It was never ending. The second one encounter ended, something else came stumbling around the corner, ready to kill her the moment they got the chance.

Alicia didn't have the luxury of working out if they were die hard Line Ark fanatics or people conscripted to their cause.

When your family is dead and your home turned to rubble, someone putting a gun in your hand and giving you a target can be unusually persuasive.

As the stray thought crossed her mind, she had to laugh a little.

 _I guess that'd make me and them not all that different._

Alicia didn't have long to dwell on the strange coincidence, a dozen or so people with a mish-mashed selection of weapons and body armour, if it could be called that, stormed around the corner roughly 500m down the street.

Close behind them were two GBN-02 MTs, patchwork armour plating bolted or welded in place to marginally bolster its protective capabilities.

Of course, that made it even slower than before and clunky as all hell. Maybe it would have helped if they'd run into one of the League's mechanised brigades currently pushing deeper into the city's ruins, but it just made them an even easier target for her.

If she could figure out what the hell she was doing wrong with Supplice's controls.

She had the time to try, yet again, to reconfigure the FCS and input sensitivity. The weapons carried by the incoming group not exactly a major threat to her for the time being.

That being said, making any headway on the issue appeared to be an impossibility.

Hard resets, manual overrides, even good old fashioned percussive maintenance couldn't coax some cooperation out of the AC's control systems.

She'd got by for now but if anything genuinely threatening decided to drop in then even running wouldn't be an option.

"Alicia!"

Sajjan's voice ringing through the cockpit distracted her from the frustration before her.

"What? I'm busy so make i-"

"Forget that, move to my position, we're about to be overrun."

"You're shitting me?"

"No time for fucking around, we've got three Ravens pushing our position as well as the entrenched Line Ark defenses, I can't hold them all off on my own and keep the League forces alive as well!"

 _What the fuck, three Ravens attacking a single point?_

It wasn't exactly an impossible situation, but for Line Ark, that was an outrageous amount of valuable resources being used in one place. They usually deployed Ravens alone or at most in pairs to cut their losses down as low as possible. Losing an AC, let alone a capable Raven was not something they could afford.

A display of force like this, was an obvious indication that Line Ark would do anything to hold this position and was willing to dedicate valuable assets to protect it.

That being said, she wasn't exactly feeling confident about how much impact her assistance would actually be. If she didn't get these control issues, well, under control, she'd be little better than a distraction than anything particularly useful.

"Fuck it, I'm on my way!" She yelled, cutting Sajjan off before he could reply.

Like hell was she gonna let this get in her way.

Alicia would fight even if it meant bludgeoning her enemies to death with Supplice's own limbs as weapons.

Throwing the AC in reverse, she fired off a salvo of rounds from both rifles, suppressing the enemy's advance before kicking off the ground and sailing into the air, Primal Armour sparking from small calibre impacts.

Alicia leapfrogged across building tops, jumping with the assistance of Supplice's thrusters to boost range and soften the landings.

Careening through an office building's top floors wasn't going to help the battle turn in their favour.

Before long she could clearly see the streaks of missile exhaust and lines of tracer fire cutting through the sky.

The moment she reopened the com' channel between herself and Sajjan, a blast of smoke and dust shot upwards, a gleaming white NEXT soaring through clouds of ash, firing down on unseen targets.

"Alicia! Where the hell are you!? They're all over m-"

A swarm of missiles roared up from the direction of his fire, two ACs quickly following them as White Glint weaved between the incoming warheads, some exploding against his PA field.

"Alright I'm here, I'll pull as many as I can away towards our lines, maybe we can bring one of them down!"

"Fine, do it!"

With Sajjan's blessing on her plan, she alighted on a nearby rooftop and did her best to line up the crosshairs with one of the speeding ACs that was frankly doing an impressive job of keeping up with White Glint's movements.

The two reticles shivered, twitching as she tried to keep the tiny crosshairs over the target, every muscle contraction and nerve impulse causing them to flicker from green to red.

 _God, fuck this._

On that thought fueled by frustration, she squeezed both triggers, the rifles kicking wildly as the lack of FCS enabled recoil compensation meant that the barrels were immediately thrown off target with every shot despite Alicia's best efforts.

But it didn't matter in the end, it achieved the goal of getting her target's attention, the AC breaking away from its attack on Sajjan and speeding towards her, a machine gun's muzzle flash winking at her during its approach.

No time left to dawdle, she kicked off from the building's rooftop, crushing it inwards from the force exerted before she rocketed towards the marked area on her HUD that indicated the forward League position.

The AC wasn't gaining on her as she cruised over the skyline, but she wasn't exactly outstripping it either.

 _A lightweight frame, maybe an Eqbal or old Omer design?_

An advantage if true, as it'd take a lot less fire to bring them down. Even glancing blows from Supplice's grenade cannon would put them out of action. Getting the shot to land on target was the problem. Light framed ACs, like her own, were built around the idea of mobility. If she was having trouble hitting stationary objects, tracking something hurtling around at several hundred kilometers per hour was impossible.

 _Stop it stop it stop it! Stop doing this to yourself._

Where the hell had this negativity come from? This unrelenting sense of doubt and inadequacy?

 _Is… Is it Supplice?_

Was it the fact that she was struggling so much with something her brother had apparently had perfect control over? It felt so pathetic that even now she was comparing herself to him. This was never something that either of them wanted. To have any semblance of being pitted against each other was disgusting, the two of them didn't commit their countless sins for that to be the end result.

This wasn't the time for such internalisations, she'd have plenty of time to comb through her psyche when her life wasn't in jeopardy.

Unfortunately for Alicia, luck had other plans in mind as the heel of Supplice caught a building that was taller than expected, sending the AC careening off course and crashing down to a street a few hundred metres from her intended destination.

"God fucking damn it! Why won't you work?!"

Alicia's frustration boiled over, slamming a fist into a small box bolted to the cockpit wall, outright crushing it and throwing a small spat of sparks in all directions.

Immediately a notification flashed up on a secondary display.

 _Defaulting to original control setup_

She wasn't given time to ponder the message's meaning as one of the ACs dropped down onto the street where Supplice lay motionless.

The very second she clasped her hands around Supplice's controls to pull the machine to its feet, she could feel the difference between the sensation beforehand and now.

There was… Resistance, feedback, a feeling that the movements she was making actually had weight behind them, rather than being something like flailing around, trying to hold smoke.

It was close to how piloting Whiplash had been, but with a notion of fluidity and control the NEXT hadn't quite managed to achieve, but this AC possessed.

The ten metre weapon pushed both rifle barrels into the tarmac, hefting itself upright and facing the target only a few hundred metres away from it.

Alicia's eyes flicked to the small PA display, seeing exactly what she expected. That the crash had totally destabilised the Kojima Particles around Supplice, dispersing the protective field and leaving her only with Supplice's thin, lightweight armour plating between her and the enemy trying to kill her.

She saw the AC ahead raise an Eqbal machine gun and shotgun in each hand, leveling them at her, the muzzle flash only moments away, hardened alloy slugs and pellets sitting in their chambers, itching to burst forth and tear her apart.

Alicia twitched the controls to the side and in a motion that in itself, brought a smile to her face, Supplice fired the thrusters in its right shoulder along with those on its back, gliding sideways out of the enemy's line of sight.

Following through with the movement, she kicked off from the ground, sailing over the rooftops that separated her from her target, the enemy AC now totally unprepared for the suddenly competent motions of something that had managed to actually crash itself mid-flight only moments earlier.

With both rifles raised, the two crosshairs lined up flawlessly over the Eqbal framed AC, unflinching and solid red, as if the machine itself was telling her with absolute certainty.

 _I will hit the target._

She squeezed both triggers, the FCS compensating for the recoil with every shell fired, each rifle kicking upwards only fractionally.

The stunned AC never stood a chance as the hail of rounds ripped through it with virtually no resistance. Its right leg and left shoulder being severed completely in the onslaught, while the head was utterly obliterated.

With its core module riddled with holes, smoke and faint flames licking out from the inside, it crumpled into a smoldering heap, oil and hydraulic fluid slowly pooling around it like a mechanical bloodstain.

Alicia released the breath she didn't know she'd be holding in, a grin uncontrollably spreading across her face as her grip on the controls tightened.

 _That… That was how it should have been from the beginning._

She didn't know what exactly she'd smashed in her frankly embarrassing tantrum but it had solved the problem in its entirety. No long did Supplice feel like some alien, unwelcoming construct whose power was out of reach. It had now become the extension of herself that surpassed what Whiplash had been able to achieve.

The frustration melted away like ice in summer heat, replaced by the warmth that came with the acknowledgement of this being where she should have been the whole time.

Sajjan had called it an inheritance, an heirloom, and he wasn't wrong.

This was the throne of blood and bone her brother carved out for her, and now she succeeded him, taking her place upon it.

Supplice landed with grace, legs smoothly taking the weight of the impact as Alicia panned the head around, seeking the other AC.

She reopened the com' channel briefly only to say, "Sajjan, one AC down. I'll move to you when I'm done with the second." Before closing it and pushing Supplice's throttle up, lifting herself into the air, still looking for her errant target.

She didn't have to wait long as a warning flashed up indicating missile launches against her from the east.

Supplice wasn't yet able to sustain a PA field, so Alicia cut the throttle, letting the AC drop like a stone back down between the buildings. The rapid series of detonations indicating that the pursuing warheads had slammed into either the ground or the buildings she hid behind.

Unwilling to test Supplice's armour against the shaped charge warheads of those missiles, she shot out into the open, slaloming between the wrecks of vehicles on the road and debris fallen from nearby structures.

Not needing wait long as the enemy boosted out from a side alley, ripping the walls on each side apart as its large, Leonemeccanica frame struggled to squeeze out. After sending quick setting concrete and glass everywhere, the hulking machine leveled two MSAC brand missile racks at her, the tiny covers of each square shaped tube flipping open in sequence to reveal their lethal contents.

But Supplice was perfectly well equipped to deal with such a threat, Alicia smoothly engaging the AC's two shoulder mounted counter measures, large pointed systems on the outside of Supplice's shoulders that rotated into position before folding open to allow the tiny thermal/ECM 'flares' to be fired out in wide arcs.

Each of them fired at the same time, missiles from one, flares the other.

The enemy's missiles scattered the moment their guidance was scrambled by Alicia's flare deployment, wildly careening into every available surface, obliterating walls, roads and vehicles alike, contributing significantly to the dust and grit in the air, not to mention the rubble and embers scattered about on the ground.

With its initial attack thoroughly negated, the opposing AC raised an old model GA bazooka, likely looking to incapacitate Supplice with a single well placed shot, but in the time it took for their aging FCS to process the change in weaponry, Supplice already had both rifles up, not needing to make any alterations for using its flares.

Alicia pulled both triggers, casually weaving her way between the odd missile whilst also making sure the enemy didn't get a bead on her with its bazooka. Only moments later, its pockmarked frame teetered backwards, crashing to the ground to remain motionless.

She'd originally been concerned that Supplice's rifles wouldn't output enough damage compared to the shotgun and high-calibre handgun Whiplash had used, but in close quarters and now with a control system that actually worked, they ripped through even the thick armour plating of the Leonemeccanica frame AC.

Now with both of her pursuers destroyed, she could turn her attention back to Sajjan who had likely dealt with his own enemy.

As she kicked off into the air heading back towards the front line, she reopened the com' channel.

"Sajjan! I've taken out both the ACs that followed me, what's the situation on your end?"

"Not good, I took out the AC that stayed behind but we can't break through the Line Ark positions, they're dug in too deep."

"Got it, I'll head over and we can try and figure something out."

"Don't get swatted out of the sky on your way here."

With that, he closed the channel from his end, leaving Alicia to try and ponder how exactly they could push into such a fortified position.

She found White Glint standing just outside a collapsed carpark, a column of League armoured vehicles and tanks idling on the street next to him. Soldiers in standard issue armour either stood on point, heads pivoting around with their rifle loosely shouldered while others hefted creates of ammunition into vehicles or secured supplies to the outsides.

Something was happening.

She moved Supplice up to White Glint, reopening the channel between them.

"What's going on here then?"

"League higher ups are getting anxious about our lack of progress. We've been ordered to provide support to this armoured spearhead that they hope will break through the Line Ark position."

"Lost faith in us Lynx then? Aren't we the ones bailing them out all the time?"

"It's not a question of faith, it's pride. They can't stand that lowly animals like us are the ones making waves."

"And of course they're happy to waste lives to try and prove a point they could never prove in the first place."

"Would you expect anything less?"

No, she wouldn't. It was standard operating procedure at this point. Procedure she'd been part of for far too long.

It didn't matter in the end, she couldn't save everyone here, but she could try her hardest to make sure this wasn't a wasted effort.

Alicia was about to question the time as to when this armoured advance was going to take place, when a nearby explosion caught their attention.

"What the fuck was that?"

"No idea, move round from here, I'll head through"

A path lit up on her radar, highlighting a route that took her further down the column before moving into it.

Sajjan moved directly to the street in question. If the two of them went the same way it would be easier to knock them both out at once.

As soon as she got to the end of the route and looked up the armoured column she saw what had caused the blast.

The lead tank was a raging inferno, turret completely missing with bright orange and red licking out of the hole it left. One of the crew had been blown clear of the tank, although it was only his charred upper half she could see on the ground. Another soldier who'd been nearby was reduced to little more than a smear on the shattered tarmac.

Another empty coffin to send back.

A trail of vapour arcing through the air signalled a second attack, this time striking a tracked armoured personnel carrier, obliterating it and turning its contents into a crimson slime that scattered over the street.

On a rooftop less than a kilometre away, she spotted it, an Armored Core with a short barrelled grenade rifle on its arm, firing it like a howitzer into their ranks.

Alicia opened a general channel to anyone with a League reciever.

"Everyone take cover! Get out of your vehicles and off the street!"

Just as she said this, several Line Ark MTs and IFVs rounded the corner at the end of their road, opening up with automatic weapons and anti-tank missiles, shredding tank, vehicle and person alike. No mercy even for the ones that begged.

That didn't change with a gun in your hands or in the seat of an AC.

Alicia kicked off from the ground, moving to a rooftop closer to the AC that had been shelling them. Safely away from the soldiers on the ground, she fired up Supplice's PA field, ready to engage yet another Line Ark AC. The 4th she'd seen in this conflict zone.

She was about to unfurl Supplice's grenade cannon to target the AC, when her position was pelted by machine gun fire, causing her PA field to flare and crackle, arcs of energy striking the now crumbling rooftop.

A fifth, sixth, and seventh Line Ark AC dropped down from above and also from the street below, surrounding what remained of the armoured column, White Glint and Supplice.

Opening the com' channel to.

"This is ridiculous, how many Ravens are they gonna commit to this fucked up hellhole of a city? Do we take them head on?"

"We need to fall back. If we fight them here we'll win, but loose what remains of our offensive forces. I suggest we cover the column's retreat and draw the ACs away if possible."

"Seriously? Why the hell do you have to keep a cool head about this? Fine, we'll do it your way."

Leaping off the rooftop before it gave way underneath her, she let Supplice's knees soak the energy of the fall before pushing the throttle up and letting its weight carry her forwards.

Pushing up to the front of the convoy, or what was left of it at least, she began firing on two of the closest ACs, pulling their attention to her before leaping into the air, trying to drag them away from the convoy. Sajjan's voice rang out over an open League channel, ordering the convoy to maintain formation and turn around, leaving the street they were on for fear of being utterly wiped out.

He wasn't exactly supposed to be ordering around League forces but right now, with their command structure in disorder and chaos, he was their best bet for getting out alive.

Supplice's crosshairs had just lined up over an AC with two arm mounted missile pods when a blazing, bright blue plasma bolt ripped through it from even further above Supplice, tearing the enemy AC's right arm clean off along with most of its shoulder.

"Sajjan! What the fuck was that?!" Alicia shouted over the com' channel between them, backing off from her previous point of engagement.

"I didn't see it, what was it?"

"Something just took out an AC with a single shot, looked like a plasma bolt from above. Got nothing on radar so far."

"Get to cover, we don't know if it's hostile to us as well."

"Got it, moving with the convo- Wait I have a contact! Extreme altitude, falling fast."

She scanned the sky, twisting left and right, trying to locate the rapidly falling signal her radar was picking up.

This was something she hated most. All of Rayleonard's training and the League's conditioning couldn't remove that gut sinking feeling when confronted with the unknown.

The possibility that anything could be coming at her, with only fractional amounts of time to prepare, react and counter. It just wasn't good form when fighting with your life on the line, something that had cost her far too many squadmates in the past.

"Signal's clearing, it's a NEXT! But… It's not broadcasting a League Friend or Foe identifier."

Now genuinely concerned as to the alignment of the incoming NEXT, Alicia backed Supplice off, falling back to White Glint's position, the two of them side by side with rifles raised.

The two of them never saw the NEXT land, it moved like a blur, colliding with the AC it had originally shot, an enormous cloud of dust obscuring it afterwards. Only the sound of rifle fire, machine gun bursts and a gut wrenching sound of metal being torn apart echoed from within it.

Barely a minute passed before silence fell, Sajjan and Alicia unwilling to break line of sight with the still thick dust cloud incase whatever remained inside it attacked them as well.

They didn't have to wait long afterwards as a figure's silhouette grew before a NEXT stepped out into the clear air, revealing itself finally.

White Glint took an unsteady step back but Alicia chose to push forwards, opening a com' channel with it before speaking.

"Unknown NEXT, this is Alice Hutchinson, Lynx for the League of Corporations. Identify yourself and your affiliation."

The reply was instant, a voice like wind chimes and birdsong came back through her speakers, the owner of said voice was unmistakably a child who likely hadn't even hit puberty yet.

"Me? I do the same job you used to, _Alicia._ I clean up the messes left by those who fail the League, like you and that murderer behind you."

Several details hit Alicia like a freight train.

First, this absolute stranger knew who she was, second, she also seemed to know Sajjan in some way.

Third, her NEXT was an almost part for part recreation of a machine she'd only seen once, on a grainy video feed of an August afternoon nearly 2 years before.

"Sajjan…?"

He said nothing at first, but looking back at him, both rifle barrels were twitching, quivering as he finally hissed out, "Who… Who the hell are you?"

"I'm the past you've been running from finally caught up. Come to collect the debt you owe me."

The NEXT raised the jagged, serrated gunblade in its right hand, levelling it at the two of them, Alicia first before moving it to Sajjan.

"I am Tristanna Thermidor, pilot of the NEXT Unsung, daughter of the man your brother ruined, the man that you killed and the one who will end both of your lives in his name."


	17. Act 2: Ch 16: Lonely Road to Absolution

Population Centre 31, Sub-Urban District

4:05

04/02/2112

Silence.

Something so easily torn by the slightest movement. A piece of broken glass, a loose shell casing, an emaciated hand under foot.

The slick sound of congealed crimson sticking your boot to the ground, or perhaps rubble scattering as walls and ceilings collapse under their own weight.

Breaking silence here, in the middle of an active combat zone was tantamount to suicide, not to mention that it would condemn whoever you were with at the time to a likely similar fate.

Having now led the same team for a good year, I wasn't about to let that happen.

We moved like shadows in the dark.

The winter sun had yet to rise, bone chilling fog hovered above the ground, obscuring potential noise making hazards. A sparkling frost had settled across every surface in the overnight subzero temperatures, making soft objects crack and shatter like glass if even a fraction of pressure was applied.

Fine powder fell from the sky, but in the pre-dawn blackness, it was impossible to tell if it was snow or ash settling on the ground outside.

Windows, splintered and cracked, were to be avoided to reduce the chances of being spotted through them while moving.

Invisibility wasn't something that came with whimsy and luck. It had to be trained into the fibres of your being. Learning to move without being heard, being seen, being thought of. To be truly effective at special operations, you had to stop existing.

That was the direction I had taken this team. Rayleonard used to use us as raw, brute muscle, now we were the knife silently slipped between the ribs of any who opposed Victor's will.

Although in this situation, the knife was actually a 450kt thermonuclear bomb planted in the basement of the central bureaucratic office.

Situated in the very heart of this population centre, it would provide the blast an even distribution. It would turn, at minimum, 90% of the urban area to dust and glass, with anything else reduced to rubble and fire.

None of us questioned the order, it would just result in our replacement. Switched out with a team more willing and able.

I wouldn't have that, I needed the loyalty of those directly under me if I was ever going to pull my plan off without Rayleonard, or Victor directly, figuring out what was happening.

But I couldn't let those thoughts dominate my mind, not right now. Now was the time to focus on the task at hand.

Leaving the city without a trace.

I hadn't brought my entire team with me on this mission, a 12-man squad was better suited to assault operations, not a stealth exfiltration.

Instead, I had brought Derek, a demolitions expert with wide knowledge of conventional and homemade explosives. Xian, the only person I knew who could beat me in close quarters combat and hand to hand combat. Finally, Svæina, a marksman of unparalleled skill who'd put many challenger to shame.

These three soldiers and myself had spent the last night quickly, silently working our way through the suburbs and industrial districts of the population centre towards the commercial heart.

Now that the bomb was planted and armed, we left with equal emphasis on secrecy and restraint. No need to start a fight that didn't need to be fought.

All four of us were working our way through a multi-story office block, using it as cover from the numerous roving gangs of militia on the streets.

Whilst we had the equipment and firepower to deal with even a sizable number of their forces, that wasn't the point of this operation. Drawing attention to themselves would only delay their exfiltration.

Svæina scanned the street to our right as we moved, the cut down barrel of her DMR gradually sweeping from side to side after every few feet covered. She was our early warning, if something came too close, she'd be the first to see it and alert the rest of us.

Xain was acting as pointman, with a standard issue Rayleonard sub-machine gun in hand, checking corners and any nook or cranny that someone might be hiding in as we passed through.

The stubby suppressor on the end of their weapon would make locating us more difficult if they were forced into a position where they had to fire at a target.

Derek was unfortunately left in a position where he could only engage targets if everything went to hell, his light-machine gun, while also suppressed, was still too noticable when firing compared to my rifle and Xain's SMG.

Hours passed like this, moving at a snail's pace to remain undetected. If it weren't for the powered armour supporting my body and every movement, I'm sure I'd be aching all over.

But it was then that Xain snapped up a clenched fist, the signal to come to a dead stop.

They'd spotted something.

Slowly, they beckoned us forwards, the com' channel between us hissing to life in my ears.

"Hostiles ahead, we can't go around them."

Sure enough, on the crossroads ahead of us was what looked like a checkpoint. Crude watchtowers with guards in on each corner with a handful of men standing about a chain link gate.

None of them were particularly focused on keeping a look out, too busy smoking and laughing at each other.

Relaxed, and totally oblivious to their surroundings. Just how I liked my targets.

"If we can't go around, we go through." I used the optics on my rifle to check for any other targets, but couldn't see any. "The towers are unmanned, we drop the three by the gate at the same time and hide the bodies. Move on through a side street and vanish."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and like the shadows we clung to, we moved in utter silence towards the unsuspecting prey.

All three had an inaudible gunshot to the back barely seconds later, muzzles of our sidearms pressed into their thin, pre-Destruction body armour so the round cut right through.

We caught the shell casing as it ejected, stuffing it into a small pouch.

No evidence.

Cutting their throats and muffling the gurgle was an option I considered, but it carried the risk of getting messy and I wanted to give the impression that these men simply disappeared, not that they had been executed.

I pushed the thoughts of fathers, husbands, brothers never coming home to the back of my mind.

I was good at that.

Their dead weight was compensated for by the powered armour, we effortlessly slung corpses over our shoulders and retreated to the shadows on the far side of the street.

We moved a good few hundred metres into the cover of buildings and side streets before we dumped the bodies. Choosing what looked like a five-story apartment block that a dud artillery shell had carved the middle out of.

Deciding against dropping them all in the same place, we scattered a short distance inside the ruins to deposit the bodies.

I found a small room with a tiny window letting in a splinter of light, carving the darkness in two. It looked like a study, or bedroom, a desk broken down the middle lay in two halves at one end with a lamp and several stacks of rotting, mouldy paper scattered about.

Choosing a lengthy shaded area by the far wall, I dropped the body and began to roughly cover it with debris.

But as I did this, the faintest hint of movement caught my attention out the corner of my eye, a miniscule glint of light off metal causing me to snap my slung rifle up into my shoulder, barrel pointed at the offending glimmer.

A child.

There was a child in the room with me.

They looked about maybe five or six, painfully thin with pale, almost blue skin. Their hair was black but I couldn't tell if that was from dirt and grime or the natural colour. Wrapped around from behind them were the limp, lifeless arms of what I assumed was their mother, now deceased but still trying to protect her child even in death.

What stood out most was the unyielding, piercing gaze their green eyes gave me. Not an ounce of fear or hesitation.

This came along with the realisation of what caused the glint.

Their tiny fingers were wrapped around the pin of an old RGN-99 hand grenade. A pre-Destruction model made by the former Russian Federation.

If it went off at this range, even if I didn't move, it was unlikely that I'd be harmed through my powered armour. But the blast would be loud enough to attract potentially dangerous amounts of attention.

Those eyes burning into mine told me that if I made the wrong move, they'd pull the pin without a second thought.

What did they have to lose at this point? If nothing else, I could relate.

I knew the feeling of being backed into a corner.

Instead of firing, I lowered my rifle as slowly as possible, letting go when it was on the sling and raising both of my hands to show they were empty. Emerald eyes following my every move, pupils like saucers made from onyx. Shining bright in that sliver of light across their face.

Doing the only thing I could think of at the time, I simply raised my right hand slowly up to my face, and pressed a single finger against the front of my helmet. The universal sign for, 'Please be quiet.'

I held my breath, but the child didn't move, only blinking a single time. Did I risk getting up?

"Captain, we need to move on, now."

A voice crackled in my helmet, deciding my course of action before I had a chance to.

As cautiously as I could, I made my move, standing up and backing out of the room, eyes still locked with the child's gaze, unflinching to the very end, even as I cleared the threshold and started moving to join the rest of my team.

* * *

We reached the designated rendezvous point shortly before the Sun was due to rise on the horizon. The sky was already beginning to lighten, a mild blue hue spreading from the distance towards us, flecked with almost transparent white wisps of cloud.

The population centre in the distance now, a haze of grey urban sprawl and black smoke columns.

Even here the ground was covered in a two inch thick layer of snow, but the ash from the city was unable to reach this far or be noticeable, the white was pure, clean.

Untainted.

The rest of my team was behind me, setting up the high-power transceiver that would send the detonation signal.

Normally the small portable detonator's aerial would be enough, but considering the fact the bomb was underground and also behind concrete and steel dozens of layers thick, we didn't want to risk coming all this way without the damn thing failing to go off.

I sure as hell wasn't marching back into that city to push the red button at any rate.

Footsteps signaled someone approaching and sure enough, Derek walked up beside me, a small black square in his open hand, offered to me like a piece of candy or a tissue.

"Connection to the bomb has been made," he said, staring out in the same direction as me. "The honour of pushing the button falls to you."

"Hah, some honour."

I didn't mean to sound so bitter, but it was hard not to feel slightly strange at being handed such an 'honour' with no real concern for what it actually was.

"It's what we do Captain. We do horrible things so others can sleep well at night."

I gave him a stern look, "The people we help sleep are billionaires, shareholders and arms dealers, not exactly the kind of people that need such help in the first place."

Derek shrugged as I took the detonator. "We've gotta take responsibility for our actions. All our choices and decisions lead to the two of us standing here, thousands of lives in the palm of your hand."

"So what, you want me to feel guilty about this?"

"Not at all Captain. We don't have the luxury of looking at things in terms of right or wrong, good or evil. We gave that up the moment we signed up under Rayleonard. All we can do, is make sure our conviction is sound."

I stared down at the small black box in my hand, flicking the safety catch off the trigger on its side, arming the device.

"Do you think conviction is enough? Is that really all we have to keep us moving forward?"

I asked him more to test his words than to get an actual answer.

I already had mine.

"In times like this, we don't have a lot else. If we didn't, it'd make us no better than animals blindly following orders."

I could only think of my brother, pushed to the point of giving up his freedom in a desperate act to save my life.

The calamities caused by his hands in my name were likely countless, I could never know them all. However, I'd committed plenty of my own in this journey to rescue him from that choice.

Like a girl with nothing left to lose, clutching a single grenade.

Ready to end it all if it meant hurting those threatening you.

"No better than animals? I'd say we are far, far worse."

I squeezed the trigger, and a second later the horizon flashed, a blinding, blossoming flower of fire, light and heat.

No right or wrong.

No good or evil.

This line crossed was where my conviction had led me.


	18. Act 2: Ch 17: Event Horizon

Former Atlanta, Downtown

17:05

16/09/2114

"So, you're Thermidor's kid? My condolences."

"No need, killing the two of you will be penance enough for me"

Alicia gritted her teeth, talking their way out of this was looking unlikely. Glancing to the side with Supplice's optics, White Glint still had both rifles trained on Unsung. At least if Tristanna made a play, it wouldn't be clean.

"So that's what all this is about? Killing and killing for the sake of someone who isn't even there for you anymore?"

"Good to know hypocrisy runs thick in your veins, how many dead did you leave behind in your brother's name?"

That hurt. What hurt more is she didn't even think before speaking, letting barbed words be turned against her so easily. Always nice to know that you're so similar to something you hate.

"How… How old are you, Tristanna?"

Unsung's head turned slightly, focusing on White Glint but keeping its gunblade up and steady.

"Really Sajjan? You're minutes from death and you want to get to know me better?"

She laughed, a bubbly, bright laugh totally unsuited to the situation.

"Alright, I'll give you this, I'm 12. Born January 2102."

"God, you're still a child..."

His voice was solemn, quiet.

"Congratulations Sajjan, a stunning observation, was that worth it?"

No reply came, his NEXT frozen in place.

"Well this was fun, but I've got a schedule to keep and I've put this off for long enough. Goodb-"

Alicia had no time for theatrics, something that Tristanna had apparently inherited from her father. Sinking low, she lit Supplice's boosters, pushing the throttle to the maximum allowed and throwing the AC forwards at Unsung, striking out with Supplice's right hand rifle, hoping to catch Tristanna off-guard.

At least she thought she had.

Instead her lunge caught nothing but air, the black NEXT no longer before her.

Driving Supplice's heels into the asphalt, she spun as fast as she could without dislocating its knees to see Unsung already swinging it's gunblade at a retreating White Glint.

 _H-how the hell did she pass Supplice so fast?_

Unsung was a TYPE-LAHIRE frame, one of the most expensive and rare NEXT frames available despite the first ever designed. Developed by Omer Science Technology prior to the war with GA using stolen research from Rayleonard, a single prototype was deployed in time for the attack on the Raven's Ark.

Unsung, piloted by the renegade mercenary Maximilian Thermidor.

Supplice was blisteringly fast, more mobile and agile than almost anything else on the battlefield, but Alicia never expected to be outclassed in maneuverability by this large of a margin.

Tristanna surpassed her in the one area that she'd always had the advantage.

"Sajjan!"

No time for anything but a desperate cry as the rough hewn edge of Unsung's rifle ripped the front of the AC's core, a jagged wound carved in white.

He barely managed to avoid being outright killed by that strike, but the follow up blow came as a shock to both of them. Pivoting with unnatural deftness and grace, the entire NEXT spun on the spot before lashing out with it's heel, connecting with enough force to send White Glint careening sideways into an office building.

Sajjan's voice finally came through the cockpit speakers. A sound of pain preceding his words.

"We aren't prepared for this, we need to get the hell out of here. Now"

Alicia heard him, but was too focused on bringing both rifles up, pulling the triggers the moment both crosshairs lit up red.

The thunderous roar of both weapons spewing forth a hailstorm of shells drowned out Sajjan's pleading.

But Alicia knew how this scene played out. She'd seen this very series of events play out nearly two years ago on the deck of a home on fire.

Tristanna would close the distance between them before her PA fell and Supplice would be cut open just like before.

She could see the stains beneath her legs, the torn fabric and warped metal in her back. If she clung onto this, if she followed her conviction with gritted teeth and a scream in her throat, she would die here.

A life lost in meaningless rage.

What would he say if he saw her taking the same path, when she already had another choice? His sacrifice was made to save the lives of those on the Ark. A bitter, cruel and unwinnable fight in the face of an enemy that would never relent, never surrender and never give any quarter.

His life saved hundreds. This would save no one.

Having made up her mind, Alicia lit Supplice's thrusters and kicked off the ground, soaring into the air, still raining rounds down on Unsung.

She had no idea what the integrity of the NEXT's PA field was, but she had to hope it was dropping fast.

"No escape for you, Alicia! I'll drag you back down a-"

Tristanna's threat was cut short by Sajjan.

"You forgot something."

Alicia was already facing the ground, but Unsung now spun in the air to see White Glint upright, if badly battered. But one of it's missile pods was rotated into a firing position, cover open to expose the dozen missiles inside.

In the span of barely a second, every single one launched away, climbing at a lighting rate.

"Alicia, get out of the sky!"

She had to take a moment to process why he said that, but the reason was like being hit by a freight train.

Each of White Glint's missile pods carried 12 missiles. Sajjan had just fired off an entire pod and each of those missiles contained eight smaller missiles with HEAT warheads more than able to pummel their way through a PA field and bore through the armour of a NEXT.

Now that 96 of those missiles were about to fill the air around them, Alicia cut Supplice's throttle, letting the machine drop like a stone, flairing the boosters only moments before touching down to prevent Supplice's legs shattering in the landing.

Tristanna opened up with her rifle, swatting several warheads out of the air as she weaved a flowing pattern between streaks of rocket exhaust.

Alicia took this opportunity to burn forwards at full speed towards Sajjan who was in the process of turning around, the empty missile launcher jettisoned to cut down on weight.

Tristanna's link to their com' channel was cut due

"Sajjan, can we pull her towards the League forces and have them hold them off?"

She wanted to hope that a few moments could be bought, but Sajjan brought the reality of their situation before her.

"Tristanna is a League Lynx. _They_ are the ones that sent her here to kill us. The second we enter the main force's line of sight they'd light us up in a heartbeat. We are the target. The League is done with us, our risk as a liability has finally outweighed our value as an asset."

The two of them shot down a slightly narrower street, trying to keep their radar signatures to a minimum.

"So, what? What the hell does that mean?"

"I means we're cut off. No support, no back up. We're enemies of Line Ark, the League and anyone looking for a salvage check. From this point on, everything is out to kill us."

"Fucking wonderful, when do we catch a break?"

"When we die, sound fair?"

"At this point, wouldn't have it any other way."

The next corner they rounded however brought their attempts at exfiltrating the city to an abrupt halt. Both Supplice and White Glint literally sliding across the asphalt, grinding the surface to grit and rubble.

Before them, what looked like the better part of the armoured division that they'd fought alongside earlier in the day. This being the first and second brigades lead from the front by the same Major General Kellson that seemed infuriated by their 'interference' in his operation.

At least half a dozen League tanks had their main guns pointed at them, not to mention several IFVs and dismounted anti-tank missile teams. Enough massed firepower to slow the two of them down enough to pose a problem.

A com' channel was opened with them, the General's grating voice crackling out of Alicia's cockpit speakers.

"Well well well, how far the mighty can fall. You two have a lot of questions to answer."

"We're busy General, don't really have time to talk" Alicia wanted to avoid a clash with League forces as much as possible.

"Shut it Lynx." Then he barked a harsh laugh, "No actually, you scum don't even get that title anymore. We've received direct orders to treat you as priority targets."

Sajjan spoke next, his voice low and measured.

"Order your forces to retreat General, none of us have time to negotiate."

He was right, only moments before they'd been tangling with Tristanna and there was every chance she'd track them down and re-engage them.

"Like I'm gonna take orders from the enemy. I've been waiting for the chance to put one of you scum in the ground. Now, I get to kill two."

The General's bias against Lynx was rather flagrantly on display now, not that it really mattered.

"You really wanna do this General? Get countless numbers of your men killed to satiate your petty grudge against people like us?"

Alicia was stalling, trying to work in the rapidly shortening gap between Kellson's forces opening fire on them, and Tristanna finding them.

"Oh you bet I am."

Those were the last words they heard as the com' channel was cut from his end, the dozens of weapon barrels pointed at them twitching slightly, making adjustments to their firing arc.

Before they could fire, a blast of static roared out of both Sajjan and Alicia's cockpit speakers, the sign that someone had just hacked into their shared network.

"Found you."

A split second later, the side of a building bubbled outwards, glowing red and white hot before a beam of deep red light burst out. It didn't connect with the lead row of League armour, but the heat was enough to turn the tank and IFV turrets into molten slag, not to speak of what happened to the exposed infantry beside them.

"Tristanna!"

But she didn't burst forth from the building the shot came through. Instead sliding out from a side street behind the two of them, the barrel of her energy rifle was a warm, cherry red. The air around it warping with the heat emitted.

"I'm not letting this chance slip by, you two die here and now!" Her voice was cracking, almost shrill at the amount of energy forced through her vocal cords.

Unsung leveled the energy rifle at White Glint, a bright light building in the barrel signalling that a shot coming at them was imminent.

Sajjan however had no intention of taking the shot. While you can't dodge something that moves at the speed of light, you can bend it, change its trajectory.

White Glint shifted slightly, as if it was bending backwards and to the side, just enough to twist out of the rifle's firing line.

Tristanna fired, the energy beam glancing off White Glint's Primal Armour, a blinding flash at the point of contact while the glowing torrent of red particles deflected into the still disorganised League forces, carving a path of destruction through every single rank, obliterating anything it came into contact with.

Alicia took the chance to charge, pushing on Unsung's position with both rifles blazing, forcing the black NEXT to cease it's attack on Sajjan, turning its focus to her.

"Oh you want to die first!? My pleasure!"

Tristanna was almost incoherent as Unsung reversed its motion, arm drawn back as if preparing to slip between both of Supplice's rifles to strike with her gunblade.

Alicia had no intention of letting that happen. This fight had to end even if it meant running from it. Sajjan couldn't save Elijah if he was dead, and she couldn't bring down the League dead either.

The moment Tristanna lunged forwards, Alicia brought Supplice's right hand rifle into the gunblade's path, the rifle becoming skewered on it before slamming into the barrel of the weapon, jamming it.

Tristanna recoiled, giving Alicia the gap she needed to burn backwards as hard as possible, still firing with Supplice's left hand rifle. Sajjan joined in from above, thrusters holding the AC in the air as he fired down as well.

"Alicia, we're leaving, now!"

"Agreed!"

With that, the two of them relented on their assault, spinning in unison and maintaining a solid line of flight away from Tristanna and the decimated League forces.

Over a slowly breaking up connection, a voice croaked at them.

"You think you've gotten away from me? Do you think you can run forever? I will find you, and I'll kill you, I'll kill you again and again and again!"

Then she was gone, the connection completely disintegrating over the distance between them. 

* * *

Southern-Eastern Wastelands, Former Atlanta Region

18:45

16/09/2114

Sajjan and Alicia both sat on a small pile of rocks that lay between both Supplice and White Glint. Both ACs were crouching and powered down to make them as hard to detect as possible.

A few tiny boxes of survival supplies were scattered around them, the majority of them surrounding Sajjan who was sitting with the top half of his jumpsuit stripped off and hanging around his waist.

Blood stained bandages covered a good degree of his chest and right shoulder while his back was a marble landscape of bruising and scar tissue. A rich tapestry of his violent history, combined with today's latest additions.

He was speaking to Kostya on a seperate phone he kept just to keep in contact with the Russian engineer. Alicia wasn't exactly paying attention to what he was saying, instead taking the time to lie down on the rock and pour half of her water bottle over her face, trying to both cool off and also rinse some of the grime and sweat out of her hair.

Turning her head to the side, she looked over White Glint.

While Supplice had managed to escape mostly untouched besides superficial damage and the loss of a rifle, Sajjan's AC was another story entirely.

Both missile launchers were gone, the armour across virtually every surface was battered and the head was half caved in. But the most noticeable damage was the canyon like wound across the chest of White Glint's core. Running from the top right to the bottom right, a preliminary inspection by the two of them earlier showed it was inches from carving into the cockpit proper. The additional thickness of the core's chest provided by the design having saved Sajjan's life.

Looking back in the direction of the city, the faintest haze of black smoke could be seen on the horizon, the only evidence that a battle was raging on in the far distance. A battle that the League could very well now lose considering the fact that Tristanna had inadvertently destroyed a significant portion of the League forces with only two misplaced shots of her energy rifle.

Just as she poured the rest of the water over her head, Sajjan ended his called with Kostya and slowly stood up, wincing at the motion before walking over to her with a limp.

"Kostya's on his way, he'll pick us up and take us back to the bunker."

"So I guess going back to the Capital is out of the question?"

"Absolutely. We're not even wanted criminals, we're literal targets. We'd be shot on sight before anyone could think of arresting us."

Alicia only asked just to confirm the thought, it wasn't like she had left anything of value behind.

"This feels like some real contrived shit. We get thrown out of the League barely weeks after being told we're under surveillance and to boot, Maximilian Thermidor's kid is a fucking Lynx and wants us both dead."

"No I don't think she's a Lynx persay."

"What do you mean?"

"I spent plenty of my spare time digging through League records for information on Elijah's whereabouts. I never saw anything about Tristanna, and I went through Corporation files dating back to before the fall of the Ark."

That had Alicia thinking, was Tristanna lying about being affiliated with the League? Was she an independant using the League as a cover to try and get to the two of them? But Sajjan had more to say.

"Tristanna said something like 'I clean up the messes left by those who fail the League', have you heard about the League's clean up squad?"

Alicia thought for a moment, trawling through her memories to try and remember anything that matched up.

"Yeah, but I've never actually seen them. I don't think anyone has. Everyone just assumed they were Lynx picked to finish off missions that others failed."

"I don't think there was ever a 'they', as in a group. I think that they've been cutting Tristanna's teeth on everyone else's mistakes. A two for one plan that gets rid of any embarrassing evidence of failure and also trains up a highly potent Lynx they can manipulate to operate behind the scenes."

"Manipulate? It's not enough to have us under their thumb?"

Sajjan shook his head, "No, they can threaten us all they want but at the end of the day we're still a risk. A potential liability. I imagine they've been feeding Tristanna information to make her utterly dependant on them, loyal to a fault. They can trust Tristanna to always come home."

Alicia stood up at that, walking forwards a few steps, still looking at the faint smoke on the horizon.

"Do you think there's any chance we can stop her without killing her?"

"I wish I could believe there was. But I imagine she's even further gone than Elijah. Committed to our destruction to the point where she weighs the value of her life against the task of ending ours. So long as the League can keep giving her missions, she'll keep fighting for them until they don't need her anymore."

"So she won't stop then." It was less of a question and more of a statement. Another ghost chasing them in the dark. Another demon to be put to rest. "In that case, we have no alternative."

A choice made with solid conviction. One that Sajjan could recognise from his own.

"We save Elijah and if Tristanna tries to stop us, we kill her."


	19. Act 3: Ch 18: Hero of the Half Truth

Act 3:

One Time for All Time

Line Ark Headquarters, Residential Sectors

17:50

20/08/2114

Fiona Jarnefeldt woke up slowly, no jolt upright, no heavy gasping breaths, just a silent opening of the eyes to stare up at the flaky concrete ceiling.

Mold was beginning to settle in, a stain spreading out from the furthest corner of the room, assisted by the poor ventilation that came as standard with living in what amounted to an abandoned GA ore mine.

She lifted the thin sheets off her body and slipped out of the bed, stretching before walking over to a metal locker in the room's corner that was a substitute wardrobe. The cold floor stung her bare feet as she walked but soon enough she'd pulled on a loose fitting workers jumpsuit and heavy boots to match.

Long gone were the days of white shirts, pencil skirts and black blazers as an Operator. Now it was a case of wearing whatever you could find in your size that wouldn't disintegrate during whatever labour you had to do around the base. That usually fell to the more durable and unfashionable sorts of attire, but there was no use complaining.

Fastening a watch on her wrist and making sure she had the small portable tablet computer secured in one of the jumpsuit's large leg pockets, Fiona was ready for the day, or at least what was left of it.

Underground, the concept of 'daytime' and 'nighttime' sort of went out the window. Time was measured to keep everyone in sync, but it wasn't like anyone had any semblance of a circadian rhythm anymore. You did your work when you weren't tired, slept when you were. Ate when hungry, drank when thirsty.

In a funny way, it sort of reminded her of how the Ravens had lived on the Ark. Free from the confines of the old social structure of 9-to-5 and dinner at 7. Perhaps in a way, it was intentional, his way of trying to keep a fragment of that life alive.

Fiona left her room, sealing the heavy door behind her and walking down the poorly lit corridor that interconnected with dozens of other corridors and hub spaces. The incomprehensible web that was the Line Ark residential sector.

Though calling it a 'residential sector' felt like putting garnish on a rotten meal. It was more like a slum.

There had never been enough rooms for everyone wanting to join Line Ark. But in their desperation, people had chosen to sleep in bags on hard floors, constructing makeshift shelters in the large open hub areas, turning some parts into something like their own independent state.

It gave the people here something to do when they weren't working or fighting the League so Line Ark administration had at first turned a blind eye, before actually getting involved, providing supplies and materials to expand the self-built communities.

That said, the support wasn't much. The majority of Line Ark's money and materials went towards their war effort. It was hard to build houses when everything went towards building guns, bombs and bullets.

You'd still find yourself tripping over people on flattened cardboard boxes, bags of loose food and countless bottles or drums of drinking water.

As much as people tried to keep the area clean, it was impossible given the conditions they had to work with. Not to mention the poor ventilation and lack of effective sanitation meant you had to deal with the stale smell of humanity at the best of times. An almost unbearable stench at the worst.

Fiona spoke to a handful of people on her way, keeping tabs on any potential issues in the Residential area was one of her daily tasks, something to stave off boredom and help at the same time.

"We need more water."

"Children can't sleep at night."

"The rats are back and keep eating our food!"

It was always like this. She could stem the tide of requests for only a short while before they came back again. Like a tide flowing out and in on regular intervals.

Finally, she stepped into one of the main elevator shafts that ran all the way from the deepest depths of the Engineering level, all the way to the hidden observation platform at the top of the mountain that their mine resided inside.

She was going to climb almost two thousand metres, but would still be technically below sea level. Her destination was effectively a hardened bunker they had built themselves. Not an original part of the mine system, but a room designed to survive even the harshest bombardment, and also completely cut off from the outside world. No network cables ran into it, there was no surveillance, sandwiched between the varying layers of reinforced concrete and toughened steel were several faraday cages of different mesh density to block as many kinds of wireless and radio waves as possible.

The things discussed in this room, never left it and only a handful of people had ever been given access to it.

There had been far too many times that she wished she hadn't had such access, hearing the things that Line Ark has to do on a regular basis to keep itself running.

After a short trip down corridors that seemed to be unable to be either well or poorly lit, she arrived. The room didn't have a designation as such, no secret nomenclature. She just had to think of it as the place she was supposed to be.

Fiona input the security code she'd been given for today's meeting, the blast door thicker than she was tall parted down the middle before her.

She stepped inside, and was immediately greeted by the sight of plain concrete walls, a steel plate floor and one of the two other individuals that this meeting was to involve.

As the door closed behind her, Fiona took a seat at the table shared with Mary Shelley, one of Line Ark's two Originals. A woman that she hadn't exactly gotten along with in the past, but that history had to be put behind her after the fall of the Ark.

Mary was idly leafing through a spread of papers on the desk, some covered in text, others with a smattering of small pictures and blueprints. However the second Mary became aware of Fiona's presence, she collected them all together and put them into a stack, face down.

"Secrets even I can't know?"

Fiona said this jokingly, but it was hard to keep her voice from betraying the harsh edge she wanted to use.

"I'm sure there's plenty you know that I'm not privy to. Although you'll know about this mess soon enough."

"I'm guessing it's the reason we've been summoned here?"

Mary paused before answering.

"Not… Precisely. But we'll all know about this soon enough."

On that cryptic note, their brief conversation was brought to an end by the door's locks clanking open and the metal mass parting as it had for Fiona.

Through the gap stepped in a man wearing a threadbare and heavily worn Raven's Ark jumpsuit. His hair was bedraggled and face unkempt, large dark bags and deep creases under his eyes betrayed the lack of sleep he'd been getting.

But for Elijah Thomson it was par for the course. Sleep was placed behind anything that came with leading Line Ark.

He was the one known as 'Havok' by the League, named after the Armored Core he had piloted back as a Raven, and now the NEXT he used as part of Line Ark.

Although after their assault on the League capital, Elijah's NEXT had been seized by the League and Line Ark had been unable to recover it.

He sat himself at the table evenly between Mary and herself. Placing a folder before him and opening it, leafing through a few pages before finally looking up at the two of them and speaking.

"I guess it goes without saying that things have been better for us. We lost around 60% of our remaining fighting force trying to hold the former city of Atlanta. The base we established there as a secondary headquarters has been completely destroyed and there is no chance of recovering any of the materials we had stored there."

Mary spoke up, "We've still got a sizable MT division in…" She leaned over and pointed at a map in Elijah's folder. "Memphis, Arkansas. We could break off a portion to infil-"

Elijah shook his head slowly, cutting her off, "Normally I'd agree but that division was committed to the defence of Atlanta already. It was wiped out."

She looked at him with disbelief before leaning back with her hands behind her head.

"Well… Shit. I assume the majority of the forces in their area were lost then?"

Elijah nodded, "I've consolidated our forces in our local vicinity to bolster our defenses. We're going to need them if holding the League at our doors is going to be any sort of possibility."

Fiona had heard mutterings among higher level staff that a League attack on their headquarters was imminent but nothing had actually happened yet.

"Can we draw any more personnel from the outlying settlements? The Capital slums?" Asked Mary before Fiona had to shoot her down.

"We can't afford to fill anymore of our ranks with people we'd end up using as cannon fodder. Those people might have heart, but no fighting experience. It would cost us too much in equipment to arm them as they are and our last major training facility was in Atlanta." There was another significant point that she wanted to address. "I've been told that the League Ninebreaker has joined our ranks, is that true?"

Elijah glanced at Mary before she began to speak.

"Well… calling him a 'Ninebreaker' is technically incorrect. He never earned the rank, but yes Gerald Gendlin has defected from the League, bringing with him the Armored Core Noblesse Oblige."

"That's… That has to be a huge boon for us though?"

Elijah grimaced slightly, a face betraying what he was about to say.

"Well, in terms of boosting our troops morale yes, but that won't last for long. Gerald's actual skill in combat is sub-par at best. He's survived only this long because he's had League back-up to finish the many missions he's unable to complete. Noblesse Oblige is a powerful weapon yes, but given to inadequate hands, it won't be able to turn the tide of a battle as it should."

 _Well that's disappointing._

The thought crossed her mind before she could restrain it.

"So he's useless?" Fiona asked, hoping for an answer that wasn't 'yes'.

"No, not useless, just not the powerhouse everyone's been told about. We can make something out of him, it's just figuring out what."

Mary shook her head at that.

"If what you've told me is right we don't have time to 'make something out of him'. He'll be pushed to the front line and he'll do what he can there. So long as he's got support he should be fine in Noblesse."

"Wait a second," Fiona spoke up, "What exactly do you mean 'we don't have time'. I get with regards to mass infantry training but a single Lynx shouldn't be too taxing? What's happening that means we can't?"

Another shared glance between Mary and Elijah. Fiona was starting to think that they'd been planning something for a while without telling her.

It was Elijah who spoke first.

"Fiona… Line Ark is on its last legs. We've dealt heavy wounds to the League's image but we're burnt out. We lost so much in the attack on the Capital and in Atlanta that we can no longer sustain regular operations. Our raiding bases and scout parties have been cut off from supply routes and the few warlords we'd bought the loyalty of have turned their backs on us due to our recent losses."

Mary took over.

"So we've come to the conclusion that we need to force the League's hand. Put them into a position where they have to surrender or risk the utter annihilation of the Capital and the League leadership."

Fiona's eyebrows raised at that statement.

"While I'm all for the idea of the League surrendering, what could we possibly threaten them with that would be able to cause destruction on that sort of scale? Not to mention the fact we'd be condemning the lives of everyone in the Capital as well. That's not a line I'm willing to cross."

"It's not one I want to cross either, but we're left with the choice of being destroyed and changing nothing, or this. As to the method I can't… Exactly explain it right now, but rest assured that it is very real and it isn't something the League can ignore."

Fiona now understood she _was_ being cut out of knowledge only Elijah and Mary were privy too. The two Originals a part of something she was denied.

It hurt. The lack of trust, after everything she'd done for Line Ark.

"I'm supposed to take this on faith right? Just accept that things are being handled and I can sit on the sidelines? I've been lied to before, by someone I trusted, it's sure as fuck not something I want to have to go through again."

Elijah looked her straight in the eyes, surprising her somewhat.

"I know, I would never want you to feel untrusted and I'm sure that's exactly what is happening right now, but it's not a matter of trust at all."

"So what is it then? Is it really that big of a deal that it has to be kept between the two of you despite the fact I'm the one left to hold this place together when you're not here?"

There was an almost awkwardly long pause before Elijah answered, Mary having taken to just sitting back in her chair with arms folded.

"Well, until now I would have said yes, that it _is_ that big of a deal. And to some degree it still is. I still can't let you in on the fine details but I can tell you that you do have an important part to play in this operation."

"So, whatever this whole deal is, it's an 'operation' now?"

"Yes, and all of Line Ark, what's left of it anyway, will be playing a part in it. Like I said, I wouldn't be resorting to this if we had any other options but we don't, we just don't. If you want to blame anyone, blame me for the position Line Ark is in, but I swear this will be worth the price."

Mary finally chimed in.

"Don't think you can just shoulder all of the blame. Plenty of us, myself included have fucked up recently." Elijah nodded, but said nothing, letting her continue as she now spoke to Fiona. "Look just… Please, trust us. We're going to have to rely on you to pull this off as well."

She didn't like this. In fact she hated it. They asked loyalty and trust from her while offering none in return. Pushed around as an asset and given no agency.

She had to wonder if this was how Berlioz had felt under the thumb of Rayleonard.

But she had to push that thought away. This wasn't a hostage situation, just a shitty one, one she was part of until the bitter end for better or worse.

At this point, Elijah stood up, looking down at Fiona from across the table.

"Fiona, can you come with me? I've got something to show you."

They'd left Mary to tidy up the paperwork in the meeting room, Elijah having led Fiona into the hanger and engineering department.

But he wasn't going to the usual row of MT and AC bays, instead to the one secluded behind a separate set of blast doors. Where the more valuable machines were kept, including the now empty bay that had held the NEXT version of Havok.

As the huge doors rumbled open for them, the first thing before them was Mary's AC Prometheus. The stocky BFF sniper AC that she had piloted for most of her career as a Raven, taking it with her when she defected from the League.

Speaking of League defectors, in the bay next to it, was the AC Noblesse Oblige.

Fiona hadn't actually had a chance to see the machine up close before, having spent most of her time in her Operator's booth directing Berlioz in his missions. But now she could see it, there was a sense of sadness around it.

Perhaps it was something that came with being a relic of bygone times. A shadow carried by the likes of herself, Elijah and Mary.

On the other side of Prometheus was a bay covered by thick tarps. It was obvious that something was there, but as to specifics, Elijah provided none, instead walking past it with her in silence, heading for the bay at the very end of the row.

"I still can't give you specifics, but I can at least tell you your part in all this."

"So what is this operation, to the best that you're willing to tell me at least?"

"It was a failsafe, in the event that Line Ark fell. Which is now almost a guaranteed situation we'll find ourselves in. We called it 'Project Heavenfall'. A last resort strike to decapitate the League leadership as a form of mutually assured destruction. If they take us down, we drag them down with us."

"So now we're repurposing it as a bargaining chip?"

Elijah nodded slowly, continuing to walk before stopping before an unlit gantry bay.

"We're giving the League a chance. A chance to perhaps see the value in survival and their citizens, over pride and power. We don't know if they'll take it, or see it as a bluff, but we've got to try. The day after tomorrow, I'll be making a public announcement across the entire Capital, directly addressing the League leadership. I will make clear our intent, giving them twenty four hours to answer our request…"

As his voice trailed off, the lights for the gantry before them turned on, illuminating a grey TYPE-DULAKE MT.

"If the League refuses our offer, it won't take them long to find us and attack. If that happens, I will need to stay behind in the base to ensure Heavenfall's success."

Elijah turned to face her, a solemn expression now staring into her eyes.

"I need you to be the last line of defence. If anyone manages to get inside, _anyone_ , you will be the last thing between them and me."

"So my final calling in life is to be a sacrifice to your safety?"

That feeling was back again.

"No, Fiona. Your final calling is to ensure that no matter what, the League's grip on the planet is broken, whether we are there to see that future, or not."


	20. Act 3: Ch 19: The Last Goodnight

A/N: I am terribly sorry for the delay with this chapter, especially as it technically falls short of my usual minimum for a complete, non-flashback chapter. F/GO events and getting into Escape from Tarkov proved fatal to my attention span and as such, less time was spent on this per week than should have been. I will endevour to discipline myself better considering we are so close to the end. I know the reviews aren't exactly flooding in, but I still hope people are enjoying this fic. Here's to the next chapter being a bit more timely.

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Capital Wastelands, Sajjan's Underground Bunker

20:40

22/08/2114

Sajjan, Alicia and Kostya had worked through the better part of the previous day and the afternoon restoring Supplice and White Glint after the battle in Atlanta.

They burned through all the remaining spare parts for White Glint, the AC having taken an almost catastrophic beating at the hands of Tristanna's Unsung. A surprise encounter neither of them had expected and one they certainly lost by Alicia's standards.

The two of them were sent packing, tail between their legs, barely able to keep Tristanna from pursuing them.

She'd let them leave with a promise, a promise to kill them both the next time they met. It was one that Alicia imagined she'd have no trouble committing to considering her overwhelming hatred of them.

It wasn't hard to understand, but the parallels to her own life, one lived for a single purpose, a life lived with tunnel vision so bad you might as well be blind.

Sajjan was the same, striving on for a lone, solitary reason. He'd literally postponed death, to try and save someone beyond saving.

But his time was almost up, his end would not be delayed any further. Willpower could only push someone so far.

Alicia had brought Sajjan the supply of medication he kept here, putting a portion of it inside White Glint and taking the rest before he worked. Something to try and keep him going during the labour of repair and refit. There wasn't much more she could do for him, just keeping him moving forwards on the momentum of a wish he would die to see granted.

The two of them were sat on a makeshift bench made from one of Supplice's old armour plates and several empty AC sized magazines stacked on top of each other. Uncomfortable, but functional. A phrase that described far too much in the underground quarters they kept.

Sajjan had a small collapsible table in front of him with a somewhat clean cloth spread over it. In pieces, neatly spread out in base components was a dismantled Leonmeccanica issue sidearm, the barrel of which was in Sajjan's hands, a microfibre cloth being pushed inside it with a ramming rod.

"Do you think you're gonna get a chance to even use that thing?"

Alicia was asking mostly because she wasn't exactly anticipating a fight on foot, but also felt somewhat hypocritical considering she had kept Berlioz's Rayleonard pistol on her ever since he effectively gave it to her.

Satisfied with his work, Sajjan peered down the barrel before beginning his reassembly, speaking at the same time.

"Honestly, I hope not. But if it comes down to it, I might have to meet Elijah face to face and I'd rather not do so unprepared."

"Well taking the chance to use it out of the equation, if need be, if pushed to it, could you pull the trigger? If given no alternative, could you kill Elijah?"

"I don't have an answer right now. It's not an outcome I really want to consider. We'll both find out when we get there, won't we?"

They wouldn't have to wait long.

Elijah had made an announcement earlier in the day, that unless the League renounced it's control and dissolved its organisation within 24hrs of the announcement, Line Ark would launch an attack guaranteed to destroy the Capital and kill everyone inside it.

Neither of them believed it to be a bluff, tho they doubted how exactly the weakened group could achieve such an ambitious outcome. But they did know exactly how the League intended to react, thanks to Kostya's hacking into their encrypted networks.

"Well there's no point discussing this if we never get inside the Line Ark base."

Alicia muttered to herself, still watching Sajjan assemble the gun.

"Lorenza won't suffer Line Ark's presence any longer. She knows where they are now and she plans to bring every ounce of firepower at her disposal. Christ knows how many NEXTs they'll field."

"That means Tristanna will be there, won't it?"

"I would imagine so. She'll be one of the cornerstones of their attack, along with air support provided by the Venture."

"Leonmeccanica's old headquarters?"

Ever since the formation of the League, the individual Corporations besides Eqbal had given up their headquarters in favour of a centralised command structure in the League Capital.

"As a combat asset, it's firepower and ability to restock aerial forces in-field is unparalleled. There's no way they'd miss an opportunity to display their maximum force against Line Ark. They want to make an example of them, dissuade anyone else getting notions of standing against them."

"Great, so what you're saying is we're screwed?"

Alicia could feel the tendrils of negativity and self-doubt creeping out of the dark corners of her head. It was hard to keep such thinking out when the odds were so heavily stacked against the two of them.

"Not quite," said Sajjan "Line Ark will be bringing their all too remember and I'm sure their base will have ample defensive systems to delay the League's advance."

Alicia's eyes narrowed at him.

"That… Doesn't sound like it helps at all. So we're gonna get shot from both sides?"

"No." Sajjan held up the now complete pistol, pulling the slide back, exposing the empty chamber before releasing it and looking down the sights, pulling the trigger to hear the firing pin clack. "Kostya has an old pre-Raven's Ark AC transport helicopter that will carry the two of us to the Line Ark base. I'm banking on the fight already taking place at that point so hopefully none of their sensors will be attuned to picking up a single object as small as us."

"This plan is sounding worse and worse the more you explain it but I'll let you finish."

"Good," He said while stuffing the sidearm into a holster on his hip, "So with Line Ark and the League too busy killing each other to give a damn about us, we'll drop in on the edge of their battle and cut a path directly for the main entrance before anyone has time to organise a response to our arrival."

"That's a hell of a risk to bet everything on. You sure they aren't gonna be looking out for us considering they've basically put prices on our heads?"

Sajjan paused, looking at the now empty space before him.

"It is a risk. It's plain stupid really, but that's why I think it'll work. Lorenza won't anticipate a pair of ACs trying to take on their whole damn army so she won't order people to look out for such a situation. She's too proud to admit a plan like that having any chance of success so she won't entertain the notion."

"Well… Shit I guess if we're gonna do this then this is the best shot we're gonna get."

"Even sane men will choose madness when their life is on the line."

"You haven't been sane since the moment I met you, you must have chosen madness a long time ago."

Sajjan laughed at that, probably realising the truth in Alicia's statement.

"I've always wondered, did you have anyone special in your life before all of…" he gestured towards Supplice, "This?"

Alicia smiled a little, "Yeah, I'd been dating this girl for a couple of years, we met in school and ended up going to the same Rayleonard university. I still sometimes feel the guilt of leaving her behind without a word, not even a note, but I've… I've gotta hope that she found happiness somewhere, with someone who wouldn't be stolen away by fate."

He nodded, a sombre expression on his face, more so than the usual at any rate.

"I'm sorry that you had to lose them too, I'm sure they loved the time they got with you."

She laughed, "Yeah I did too, even if remember is a little sad, it can still make me happy at the same time."

"The paradox of romance, something we seek and fear all at once."

Alicia looked up from the ground at him, "What about you?"

"Me? Well, no, honestly I can't say I have. Not for want of trying of course, on both sides. But either they weren't who I was looking for or I wasn't for them. It's an unfortunate reality of living a life like this. Settling down with someone just isn't an option for someone that could die at any time. Maybe if I hadn't become a Raven I'd have a family of my own, but life doesn't work like that. I sometimes have moments where I can't believe how many times my life has changed. I think back to days when I didn't know what I wanted to be. When I was a Raven and then thinking about now. I don't think I'd believe it if I hadn't lived it myself."

"You're telling me, I was almost a surgeon before my life went to hell."

That earned a reaction from Sajjan, his eyebrows raising higher than she'd ever seen before.

"You're kidding, right? A surgeon?"

"Yep. I could have been saving lives right about now, instead…"

"Yeah, instead we got this."

Alicia looked up at Supplice, and then White Glint in the next hanger along.

"Hey, Sajjan? Tell me a story. Something from your past. Anything."

He looked at her with slight confusion and maybe, amusement? But he nodded and paused, eyes drifting out of focus as he thought before taking a breath in and speaking.

"I think this was maybe… A year before the Ark fell, Elijah and myself were contracted by BFF to investigate strange radar signals a few kilometres outside of one of their firebases. They listed the mission as a two Raven job because the signals didn't match any known MT or AC signature and they were concerned that whatever it was could be enough of a threat that a single AC might be overwhelmed."

"Hard for me to think of anything back then outperforming an AC"

"You'd be surprised. We sure as hell were. In that hell of a wasteland we found a trio of old Global Armaments mobile fortresses. Weapon platforms designs to lay siege to hardened positions with indirect firepower to rival any artillery brigade."

"Oh I'm familiar. Any time a rogue warlord got their hands on one we were sent out by the League to wipe them off the face of the Earth."

"Yeah, except back then it wasn't a common occurrence for tiny independent groups to get their hands on that much firepower. They'd raided an abandoned storage facility and were dead set on leaving their mark on the world. Elijah damn near killed himself trying to bring one down on his own, later swearing that he was trying to save my ass from some threat I wasn't aware of."

The faint, tugging smile at the corner of his mouth gave away how much he valued such memories, so she let him continue.

He told her story after story, even as they carried on their work on their ACs, he was like a floodgate let open without warning. Tales from when they first met, their initial missions together, how they'd eventually ended up living together and how Elijah had gotten to know Thomas, an old mutual friend of the pair who unfortunately died in the fall of the Ark.

"Thomas, I think you've mentioned him before but not often."

"It hurts… To think about him too much. He was a good friend, one of the few I could trust to look out for me when it counted, Elijah too but…"

He trailed off for a moment, standing still with a plasma cutter hanging limp in his hand.

"When he died, I had a moment of weakness. A moment when I let my emotions and feeling take me somewhere I should never have gone to and I hurt Elijah. I betrayed our friendship and trust and I blamed him for Thomas's death. And I never took the opportunity to apologise until it was too late and Elijah's spirit was broken beyond repair."

"I guess that must have been around the time he became the 'Havok' the League knows and set up Line Ark?"

"Most likely. He ran, buried your brother, and then began organising his war against the League and everyone affiliated with it."

A look of pain crossed his face.

"I have to wonder, would he have fallen so far if I'd been able to be honest with my actions and admitted my mistakes. Could I have saved him before he needed saving?"

Alicia had to consider her answer a moment before she gave it, making sure she was being as honest as Sajjan wished he'd been back then.

"Yeah, maybe you could have. But we gain nothing by staring backwards at the shit in our lives. We're both guilty of that. We make the best shot we can at fixing this and win or lose, we work to make a future we're proud of."

"That almost sounds like something your brother would say."

She had to smile at that, maybe some would disagree with her, but if she could be half the person Berlioz was, she'd be happy.

"I didn't know him all that well, I mean I didn't know you existed, but the times I had been able to speak to him… I get the feeling that he'd be proud of you. For making it this far in a world so determined to break and kill us."

It seemed as though his resolve returned as he hefted up the plasma cutter and resumed shaving away warped sections of metal away from an armour plate.

* * *

Hours later, the two were finished, Kostya having left them to work on the helicopter that was going to carry them into battle.

It was late, almost midnight. Sajjan had retired to his bunk, needing to conserve whatever strength he had left for the following day. Alicia had gone up to the surface, in a section of the bunker that was isolated from the toxic wastes surrounding them. No need for a hazmat mask like when she arrived at or exited the bunker.

The moon was waning but still bright, the stars adding to its brilliance. Only thin wispy clouds sailed past casting faint shadows on the baked ground outside.

She sat on a simple wood and iron bench that looked like it was almost part of the Earth now, mold and weeds beginning to grow where previously they had been too poisoned to flourish.

Funny how even simple weeds could bring a smile to her face. Not everything here was dead, perhaps life still had a chance.

That chance was slim though. If the League carried on, Kojima poisoning would kill the planet in only a few more decades. The next generation would watch the world die.

Perhaps in a way, that was one method of Elijah justifying his actions. To push the surviving population to put the ecosystem back on track before it was too late.

But things had changed. Perhaps a year or so ago she might have been able to at least tolerate the idea of siding with Elijah and Line Ark if it meant getting revenge. But the situation had changed.

 _I wonder what life will be like when Sajjan is gone,_ she thought to herself idly, _will I have the drive to carry on?_

It was something she had to genuinely consider now. If the two of them made it through tomorrow and Sajjan spent every ounce of his strength on surviving, he could perhaps make it to the end of next month. But he'd be bedridden, unable to even feed and bathe himself. Looking at it from the perspective of someone with, in theory, the rest of her life ahead of her, it's not how she'd want to go out.

But people in that position wouldn't want her pity, she had to respect those who endured and those who decided their time was up.

She knew exactly what Sajjan would do after this last time of seeing Elijah. So entertaining the idea of him lasting a few more weeks was useless.

But Alicia was grateful for the friendship she'd built with him. Even if it was established on the foundations of revenge and violence. In a life when family had become such a distant and fleeting memory, he was the closest thing to it she'd had in years. While her brother had only left her two years ago, almost to the day, he'd been an ethereal and unreal presence in her life.

Sajjan had been something close to stability, an anchor in a sea so desperate to sweep her and her ambitions under the waves. To drown her in a life so filled with horror and torment that if she hadn't had something to hold onto, she never would have survived.

This last year in particular had come to teach her that she couldn't survive on anger and violence alone.

On that thought, she stood up from the bench and took one last look at the sky, admiring the gleaming stars a moment, before walking back to the bulkhead door that isolated the exterior area from the main bunker.

After the long elevator ride and walk to the tiny sleeping quarters, she crawled into her bed and lay her head on a pillow. She lasted only a second before falling asleep, quiet and colourful dreams of shimmering lights and a blue sky carrying her through the night.


	21. Act 3: Ch 20: When Silence Breaks

A/N: I want to apologize for the outrageous time between this and the last chapter. I think to some degree I was feeling severe performance anxiety now that we're so close to the end of it all. I want this to live up to the standards set by both Burning Path and Broken Wings and it's hard to convince those voices in your head that you're doing that. But here is Chapter 20, the finish line is in sight, lets see if I can make this a sprint finish, instead of crawling over the line.

Capital Wastelands, Sajjan's Underground Bunker

6:15

23/08/2114

Dawn had broken a little while before Alicia opened her eyes, but even underground, she could tell the Sun had risen. The circadian clock never stopped ticking after all.

She pushed the thin covers off and immediately headed for the sink at the end of the room to wash the grime from her eyes that built up over night.

After giving her face a good rub down with a wet hand towel, she stared at her reflection in the cracked mirror, seeing for the first time new lines, wrinkles and scars.

If today was going to be her last, she figured she might as as well remind herself of what she look like.

Assuming that the other two were up already, she changed into a clean, if somewhat battered jumpsuit and fastened the usual heavy boots to her feet. Running a hand through her hair to make sure it wasn't matted to her head, she reached under her pillow and grabbed the old Rayleonard sidearm that had saved her life all those years ago, slipping it into an equally old holster on her hip.

A comforting weight.

Leaving the makeshift bedroom, she covered the short distance to the main hub area of Sajjan's bunker in a minute or two, however upon arriving she saw that neither he nor Kostya were there, the usually humming banks of old computer hardware were dark, and silent.

Even the recently acquired, enormous server that looked like it was carved from a solid aluminium block was inactive, no flickering lights indicating the back and forth of data.

The silence however did allow the sound of clinking cutlery and kitchenware carry through from the small mess area that had been set up.

Approaching with some hesitancy, she opened the bulkhead style door to find the main table covered with an impressive array of bowls and plates. None particularly large or overflowing with food, but certainly higher quality and more plentiful than she was used to in the sparse times they lived in.

Kostya was sat at the side of the table furthest from her, gently stirring a steaming bowl of what looked like porrage, or some other cereal based meal. There was a small side plate next to the bowl with toasted bread and sliced tomatoes on it and it was paired with a visibly hot mug of either very strong tea, or perhaps coffee.

Not even counting what was claimed by the engineer, there was fresh fruit, bread rolls, decanted packs of both BFF and Leonemeccanica MREs, sealed thermos flasks that presumably were keeping some beverage hot, various dried meats splayed out on a small platter-like dish, at least two bowls of seasoned nuts and to her astonishment, the smell of frying bacon and eggs.

"Alicia!" Proclaimed Kostya, raising his mug like it was a pirate's flagon, "Good morning! You must join us for this feast that Sajjan has provided!"

"Holy shit you aren't kidding about the feast part"

She looked at the back of the man who was stood at the stove.

"Sajjan, where the hell did all of this come from?"

After a brief pause, he turned off the stove's heat and set the frying pan on a metal surface to cool slightly.

When he turned around, Alicia almost didn't recognise the man before her.

Sajjan was, as she could only describe it, transformed to something closely resembling how she'd seen him in pictures years ago.

His turban was clean, neat and tightly wrapped around his head, a vibrant violet colour. His beard was trimmed and tidy, oiled to look as tho it was a seamless part of him than something sprouting from his face. The skin that usually looked sallow and dirty was bright and even, even the gaunt expression on his cheeks had been alleviated to some extent.

To top it off, he was wearing what had to be the last Raven's Ark jumpsuit in his possession. It was almost pristine, bright white and with his AC name proudly displayed on the shoulder.

Alicia had to wonder if this was actually the Sajjan from before the Ark's fall travelled through time.

"Oh my God Sajjan, wh-"

He dismissed anything she was about to say with a slight wave of his hand and shake of his head.

"It's nothing worth commenting on, Alicia. I just assumed if this was going to be the last time I see my old friend, I wanted to look my best."

There was plenty she could have said to that, but instead she decided to smile and nod, before taking a seat opposite Kostya.

Sajjan wasn't lying when he said he wanted to look his best. But at the same time he wasn't telling the whole truth. She could work that much out herself.

That was his choice to make, he wasn't deceiving her and he wasn't deceiving himself. It was just less painful this way. They could enjoy the moment of a last meal saved for exactly that day. To not dwell on the pain in their immediate future, and perhaps gain a final measure of peace.

* * *

Capital Wastelands, Sajjan's Underground Bunker  


14:20

All three of them had worked in the hangars for the rest of the morning and early afternoon, performing the last minute tweaks and maintenance on both Armored Cores and the helicopter that was due to take them into battle.

Kostya was resolute that it was in excellent condition, but the machine's age had Alicia's nerves on edge. It was a relic, far older than even the original parts of Supplice.

She had actually seen them used in battle before, dropping in small teams of MTs to combat zones where it would have taken them too long, or been too difficult to get into via their own mobility. And she also had to concede that they were effective at low profile insertions as their radar signature was small and they could fly very low, below most wide area radar systems.

However she'd also seen them swatted out of the sky by portable anti-aircraft missiles and small AAA batteries. Hell, sustained small arms fire from an infantry squad could bring one of them down if they focused on the least armoured sections like the engine intakes or cockpit.

But it really was their best shot and it wasn't like they had anything resembling an alternative.

To her pride, Supplice was showing absolutely no signs of malfunction or unwanted action. Any of the issues she'd previously experienced had been resolved. Sajjan reported that White Glint was equally running at full steam.

Their weapon's magazines were full and the chambers cleaned, optics were polished and servos lubricated.

Today, the two of them would enter as the most dangerous weapons on the battlefield. They wouldn't even let the Lynxes and their NEXTs take that title from them.

Ravens were born to dominate the war zone, today nothing less would be tolerated.

But eventually there was nothing left to check and nothing left to examine. Kostya climbed into the helicopter while the platform it rested on began to rise upwards, the enormous blast doors above parting for it.

Sajjan and Alicia stood on their respective AC's gantries, watching Kostya's helicopter ascend.

"You know," Shouted Alicia over the noise of the platform, "I'm actually glad I could be here for this. I don't think you could do it without me!"

Sajjan could do nothing but give a hearty, full laugh in return.

"You're right, I'd be hopeless, so thank you Alicia, I'm glad I got to meet you!"

At that, the two of them climbed down into the cockpits of their ACs as their own platform began to rise, a similar blast door opening, and the sound of gigantic rotor blades spooling up to speed roaring loud enough to resound in the cockpits.

Alicia fired up Supplice's primary generator, keeping the Kojima Particle module offline for the time being. The glow of the monitors before her slowly lit up Supplice's interior brighter and brighter, letting her see every break, buckled plate and burnt out electrical line.

So many imperfections that she couldn't help but be lost in every time she sat in this seat.

His seat.

Her seat.

Their shared sins and shame.

And on her wrist, her love for him, a watch given to a brother that gave everything he had for her. She didn't know if she'd survive today, but if nothing else at all…

She'd fight to make him proud, and fight for her friend's dream.

* * *

Capital Wasteland Airspace, Near Line Ark Headquarters

17:05

Alicia had to admit, she hadn't expected their journey to be quite as rough as it was. Having grown accustomed to the shock absorbing features of transporter gantries and their smooth flight patterns, the constant shuddering from the helicopter's rotor blades and the sensation of every sway and wobble going straight into her cockpit was like being stuck in a low quality cocktail shaker.

This is exactly the sort of thing she could have imagined the old Ravens complaining about on a regular basis. She didn't speak to many of the Rayleonard MT pilots so she'd never heard any first hand accounts of what they were like to use and now wished she had so that she could have at least been prepared for the experience.

Thankfully, to distract her, the com' light blinked in front of her, and she opened the channel.

"Alicia, I've been scanning the League long range frequencies"

It was Sajjan, who'd spent a good deal of the time enroute trying to get an old League communication package to interface with White Glint's communication system. He'd only succeeded in the last hour or so.

"Anything interesting?" She asked, wondering if there was anything about the Line Ark base being broadcast.

"Yeah a few things. The big one being that the League started their siege of Line Ark's primary HQ a few hours ago. It turns out that it was in a small mountain range almost within visual range of the Capital. Talk about living under the enemy's nose. Anyway, they've pulled out all the stops for this one, committing all available military assets in the local area and a good few from outside it."

"Anything outstanding?"

"The biggest is the Aircarrier Venture. The old HQ of Leonemeccanica has been refitted into a purely military vessel, it's got even more firepower and air power projection than it did during GA's War. No one is broadcasting specifics but they've got a good number of Lynx on call too. It's safe to bet that if we show our faces, Tristanna will hunt us down."

"Yeah I wouldn't put it past her"

It felt like some horribly contrived fate that the two of them would have to fight the child of someone who'd caused them so much pain.

"Also got reports of fixed artillery being set up. If they can't fight their way into the mountain, they'll try and level it before Elijah can enact his plan."

"You're not worried about that?"

"Not really, I'll get to him before anyone else does and stop him from going any further with this chaos."

"What about Line Ark, have the League mentioned anything out of the ordinary?"

There was a brief pause.

"A lot of previously unaccounted for ACs have been spotted fighting League forces. Also several contingents of local independent warlords appear to have come to Line Ark's aid. It's mostly the recessed gun positions of Line Ark's base that are giving them the most grief. The League doesn't have anything precise enough with enough firepower to take out armoured gun positions outside their effective range. Probably what the artillery is actually for"

"So really, what you're saying is that it's a gigantic clusterfuck that we're dropping feet first into?"

"Yes. This is likely going to be worse than the battle at Maxwell and that…"

His voice trailed off. It was hardly surprising considering that was the day his world truly fell apart, with the loss of his last friend and the beginning of the League's control of his life.

Back then, he'd been forced to watch as all of his effort and sacrifice went to waste, all for mistakes made and words said in haste and pain.

Things wouldn't end like that today.

Not if she could help it. Alicia wasn't giving up on revenge, but it seemed to her, that helping Sajjan was the right thing to do. She'd even go so far as to say it's what her brother would do in her shoes.

"Alicia?"

Sajjan's voice dragged her back.

"Worse or not, we're winning this one. No turning back now."

He laughed at that, quietly, but loud enough to be heard over the com' channel.

"I wasn't all that worried about turning back. We're committed to this, until the we see it through to the end."

A second light flickered into life on the control panel in front of her, the only person it could have been was Kostya above them in the helicopter. She accepted the channel request, letting his accented voice fill the cockpit.

"I'm beginning to get long-range sensor readings, we're too low to get picked up, but that's not stopping them looking."

Sajjan hummed to himself as he thought.

"It wasn't like we didn't expect this, but having skies free of radar and sensor sweeps would have been a bonus. Don't worry Kostya, stick to the plan."

"Understood, you'll make it in, don't worry about that."

Supplice was positioned behind White Glint hanging from the framework below the helicopter, so she couldn't actually see what was ahead of them. But Sajjan had patched some kind of video feed sharing from White Glint's optics to her main display, meaning that for the time being, she could see everything that Sajjan could.

For now, that was a whole lot of nothing. Baked, dead earth and maybe the odd shrub that stubbornly refused to die despite its environment.

But on the pixelated horizon, was the faintest signs of smoke columns, and a sole mountain jutting out of an unimpressive range.

"Sajjan, is that it ahead?"

"Yeah, that's Line Ark's HQ, already under siege as the reports said. Get Supplice ready, a 'hot drop' won't cover what we're going into so be ready to start shooting the second we're free from the chopper."

"On it."

Alicia was now well versed in switching Supplice to Combat Mode, ensuring that rounds were chambered and safeties were off. The action on both her rifles slammed forwards with a _clack_ that reverberated through the cockpit.

Even Supplice's relatively underpowered sensor array was starting to flare up with warning signs that something was trying to find them, but as it was in a passive configuration it wouldn't trip any low-power signals like the ones currently washing over them.

At least fo-

"Shit! We've been tagged!"

Kostya's panicked voice rang out loud as everything began to shift sideways with an almost violent lurch.

"Kostya!" Shouted Sajjan, "What happened?"

"I don't know, maybe I was too high or they had more advanced radar than we thought but this helicopter is definitely being tracked by something ahead of us, more signals are following the trace they've put on us. Stealth is out of the question now!"

Sajjan cut the feed from White Glint, effectively blinding her. No definitive targets had showed up on her radar yet, just the vague warning that she had been locked onto, which was like the machine equivalent of anxiety. Useless.

The helicopter must have made some drastic manoeuvres because the framework holding Supplice and White Glint was groaning from the strain and she was being borderline thrown around in her seat.

Sajjan beat her to asking Kostya what was happening. His answer was less than inspiring.

"Short range IR missiles! Two so far, but I can definitely see more being fired at us."

 _Just wonderful_ , Alicia thought to herself as the seat straps dug into her shoulders and stomach yet again.

A series of dull thuds behind her signalled that Kostya had dumped a few charges of countermeasures, a mixture of IR flares and chaff to mask their heat and radar signature. Whilst it was effective, it had a limited amount of uses. Meaning once they ran out, you were counting on pilot skill and sheer dumb luck to keep you alive.

A different set of distant explosions sent shudders through her, this one very familiar from her time in Rayleonard's Army.

Anti-Aircraft guns, using airbursting 'flak' rounds that relied on white hot shrapnel to cut their target to pieces in the blink of an eye.

Instinctively, she reached for the two switches at her side that controlled the Kojima Particle flow, starting the process that would generate her Primal Armour.

Another burst of AAA fire, the sound of metal pinging off armour plating, but also more concerning noises, like a very shrill alarm coming through from Kostya's end of the com' channel.

"Kostya?" Alicia asked, trepidation unmasked in every word, "What's happening, are you alright?"

There was a plunge in altitude suddenly before the rotors span at an even faster pace to maintain level flight.

"Don't worry Alicia, I'll get you there, don't worry, don't worry."

Nothing about what he was saying made her worry any less, Sajjan equally now concerned for his friend.

"Kostya, set us down here we can make it in!"

"No Sajjan, not close enough, you need to do this, you need to get to him."

The Russian wasn't having any of it, determined to put the two of them as close to the battle as possible despite the declining condition of the helicopter.

Another bang, this time directly above, with another immediate drop in altitude. Alicia could hear Kostya's breath rasping over the channel.

"Don't worry, you need to do this."

A moment later, the chopper reared up like a horse, front end climbing before slowing the whole machine down, lowering them to a safe drop height.

Then with a bang, the bolts holding both Supplice and White Glint detonated, releasing them from the chopper's underhanging framework.

"Godspeed to both of you, find your friend and bring him home!" Kostya shouted despite the audible strain in his voice, "Go! Save him and live the life you were supposed to!"

Both ACs touched down, and Alicia had long enough to look up at the chopper, hemorrhaging smoke and wavering as it ascended, to watch two missiles streak into its side, the entire machine blossoming into a flower of fire and shattered metal.

"Kostya!"

But both Sajjan and Alicia knew that the chopper had no ejection seat or any sort of protection from a blast like that.

Sajjan's friend was gone, another life lost in pursuit of Elijah. She had to wonder what sort of toll this all was taking on him. Whether he had the resolution to push on through these endless traumas.

Thankfully, he had an answer to the questions running through the back of her head.

"Alicia, come on, we're going to get shelled if we don't move."

If nothing else, the man was resolute.

Following the glow from White Glint's boosters, Alicia pushed up Supplice's throttle, letting the AC lift away from the ground a little before leaning forwards, letting the energy carry her on.

Ahead of them was an impossible sight.

Thousands upon thousands of MTs, an innumerable horde that stretched out like a mechanical sea. Emerging from that sea were the towering frames of Mobile Fortresses, bristling with direct and indirect firepower.

Hovering over the battlefield towards the rear ranks of the League army was the Venture, a sleek, ominous shadow looming over them all. Bright blue lances of plasma energy darted out, carving molten red scars into the mountain side, trying to seek out hidden gun emplacements.

The white trails of missiles and mortar shells criss crossed through the air with bursts of tracers from both sides carving lines of fire in the sky.

In that sky, fighter jets and attack aircraft from the Venture performed daring strafing runs and bombing strikes on unseen targets in the forests around the mountain base, doing their best to burn away the nature that hid their foes.

It was a scene of chaos, the raw unfettered mayhem of war let loose on the earth before them. Mankind's most desperate attempts to annihilate each other in the name of pride, loyalty and selfishness.

But she didn't have long to admire the view, several of those streaking missiles were now headed their way.

The Kojima module had plenty of time to saturate the area with particles, and as she flipped the lever above her head, the resulting electrical charge sent them into the correct spherical form, arcs of amber lightning striking the ground around Supplice.

Only a second later, a missile slammed into the PA field, sending the blast outwards, the force of the impact sending a shudder through the field's surface like ripples across water, but its integrity didn't drop all that much, only a few percent.

She saw the missile launchers on White Glint's back rotate into position, his voice coming out of the speakers a moment later.

"Stay clear of my firing solution, I'm going to cut us a path through their front lines."

She shifted Supplice slightly to the left, so that the exhaust from White Glint's missiles wouldn't disrupt her optics.

A second later, the armored covering of the right hand launcher swung open and in quick succession, twelve missiles streaked forwards in a shallow arc. Each one, just like before, was a multi-missile, containing another eight smaller missiles inside.

The missile's casings broke away and they unloaded their payload, dozens of sub-missiles came crashing down in a rough line before them, blasting MTs, both League and Line Ark alike, into pieces with no distinction between either.

Before the clashing armies had a chance to react, the two of them slide into their ranks, both of them with rifles raised, firing blindly ahead to cut deeper into the fight, trying to get to the base of the mountain. Both White Glint and Supplice's PA fields flared with numerous impacts, stray rounds and deliberate shots taken at them as a few MTs decided to try and engage them.

Alicia was relying on Supplice's FCS to detect the incoming targeting patterns and return fire with her rifles, doing her best to eliminate anyone trying to stop her.

As the horde of MTs began to thin, something white on the ground caught her eye, fleeting glimpses through the legs of a dozen machines.

It was only when they got closer did she recognise it in an instant.

In the middle of the battlefield, being kicked around by MTs as they moved to engage, was the lifeless frame of Noblesse Oblige.

While the AC was battered and beaten, it was clear as day where the fatal blow had fallen. The front chest plate was boiled open, a scorched hole about a metre wide was evidence of something burning through the armour plating and incinerating the cockpit.

At least it would have been quick.

She moved on, pushing forwards until the ranks of MTs were thin enough they could see the recessed entrance to Line Ark's base.

 _There it is! We just need t-_

Her train of thought was cut short and derailed by a blast of communication static, followed by a voice.

"Found you."

A burst of laser bolts slammed into the ground in front of White Glint, their small blasts still enough to throw up sand and dust, obscuring their view.

Something dropped into the cloud, clearing it in an instant.

The obsidian black, TYPE-LAHIRE framed NEXT, Unsung.

"You just couldn't resist the chance to poke your heads out of your hole could you? Could have lived a little longer but I should thank you for letting me kill you sooner"

Every word Tristanna said was spat at the two of them.

Sajjan spoke first, but to Alicia, not Tristanna.

"I need to get inside…"

"Don't worry, she's all mine"

Tristanna chimed in.

"As much as I want you dead Sajjan, the idea of ending the Lamond family line with my own hands is too good to pass up. I'll gut her, and then bring you back alive. I've got something very specially planned for you."

"Just try it you fuck. Sajjan, get in there, I've got this."

She raised both rifles at Unsung while White Glint wordlessly slid to the side, making a beeline for the entrance.

Unsung's gaze followed him for only a moment, as if she desperately wanted to kill him right then, but Tristanna's prize was already before her eyes.

Alicia's fingers itched to squeeze, the reticles over Unsung flashing red.

"Let's get this over with. Let's see you try and kill me, _Thermidor._ "

"It will be my utmost pleasure, _Lamond_ ".

With that, the two opened fire with a sound like roaring thunder splitting the air.


End file.
